WITH just days to go until The Oscars 2020 we take a look back at how the Irish have fared over the years.

And reveal some Irish facts about the awards, now in its 92nd year, you might not know.

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For instance, did you know an Irish man designed the statuette all celebs vie to have?

That an Irish woman, best known for her scores for video games, will be the first woman to conduct an orchestra at the Oscars?

And do you know which Oscar winner accidentally flung her award in a pool in Connemara?

The telly extravaganza has been taking place since 1929. It airs this Sunday at the Dolby Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles.

Our only Irish nomination this year is Saoirse Ronan for her part in Greta Gerwigs Little Women.

Irish composer Emear Noone will be the first woman to conduct an orchestra at the Oscars.

She will lead the 42-piece orchestra at the Academy Awards as it plays excerpts from five nominated scores on Sunday.

Legendary Irish actor Peter OToole is one of the events biggest losers.

The Laurence of Arabia star received eight Academy Award nominations, but he did not win a gong until 2003 when he was given a special Oscar by his peers for his contribution to film.

Carlow actor Saoirse Ronan, 25, already has earned her fourth Oscar nomination, and half of those have come from working with director Greta Gerwig.

Brenda Fricker won a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for her performance opposite Daniel Day-Lewis in the Christy Brown biopic My Left Foot.

But recently revealed her Oscar statuette once ended up in a swimming pool in Connemara.

Liam Neeson nearly got a Best Actor gong for his spectacular performance in Schindlers List in 1993 but the best actor award went to Tom Hanks for his performance in Philadelphia. Many reckon he was robbed.

Michael Fassbender has been twice nominated for an Oscar. Once for Best Supporting actor for 12 Years a Slave, and got a Best Actor nomination for Steven Jobs in 2016.

Irish-American art director and production designer Cedric Gibbons is our biggest winner at the awards.

Born in Dublin, the creative genius amassed a haul of 11 gongs, nominated for 38. Hes even credited with the design of the Oscar statuette.

Noted writer George Bernard Shaw is the only person to have been awarded both a Nobel Prize (Literature, 1925) and an Academy Award.

He won for Best Adapted Screenplay for his own play Pygmalion (1938)

Daniel Day-Lewis has won three awards; Best Actor for My Left Foot in 1989; Best Actor for There Will Be Blood in 2007 and Best Actor for Lincoln in 2013.

Sligo man Neil Jordan directed four actors in Oscar nominated performances: Bob Hoskins, Stephen Rea, Jaye Davidson, and Julianne Moore.

The prolific director and writer, also won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 1993 for The Crying Game.

Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova won the Best Original Song for their tear-jerking track Falling Slowly they wrote for the film Once in 2008.

Irish-Ethiopian star Ruth Negga was humbled after being nominated in the Best Actress category at this 2017 Oscars for her role in the historical drama Loving.

Maureen OHara never won a competitive Oscar but received a Lifetime achievement in 2015. She passed away less than a year after receiving the award.

Kilkennys cartoon studio Cartoon Saloon animated features Secret of Kells, Song of The Sea, and The Breadwinner have all been nominated for Oscars.

Dubliner Consolata Boyle has been nominated three times for the Academy Awardfor Best Costume Design.

Irish American PricewaterhouseCoopers accountant Brian Cullinan was the man behind the infamous envelope mix-up at the awards in 2017 in which La La Land was mistakenly named best picture over Moonlight.

Some of the talent never lauded by their peers at the awards include: Maureen OSullivan, Milo OShea, Gabriel Byrne, Brendan Gleeson, Fionnula Flanagan, Fiona Shaw, Cillian Murphy, Colin Farrell and Domhnall Gleeson.

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Read more:
How the Irish have fared at the Oscars over 90 years who has the most nominations and wins? - The Irish Sun