Banshees star ‘Jenny the Donkey’ replaced by a stand-in at the Oscars

Attendees and viewers alike were delighted as host Jimmy Kimmel walked a donkey into the star-studded auditorium and introduced her as ‘Jenny the donkey’, Colin Farrell’s character Padraig’s loyal companion in the Martin McDonagh flick.

Farrell could be heard shouting “oh my God” from the audience as he watched on.

“Not only is Jenny an actor, she’s a certified emotional support donkey, at least that’s what we told the airline to get her on the plane from Ireland,” Kimmel said.

“Jenny, there’s your friend Colin right there and your friend Brendan, whose finger you ate, you wanna say thank you.”

However, despite Farrell’s delight at being reunited with who he thought was his onscreen pal, sources have confirmed it was a lookalike.

Kerry Condon, who lost out on the Best Supporting Actress gong to Jamie Lee Curtis, reportedly said: “No! All the way from Ireland? Course not!” when asked if the equine’s cameo was the real deal while director Martin McDonagh said the film’s crew "would have allowed that to happen”.

Meanwhile, the real Jenny is still living in a secret location in Co Carlow.

Her trainer Megan Hines previously confirmed to the Sunday World that despite being age only three ‘Jenny the donkey’ will be shielded from millions of fans of the movie who’ve fallen in love with her.

“The reason why she’s in a secret location, because we wouldn’t want her to be used for any commercial gain, but to live the life she deserves,” she stressed.

“People might overfeed her with carrots or whatever, or just generally cause her unnecessary distress.”

She also had to look after Jenny’s stand-in, Rosie, a 10-year-old donkey brought in from England – although Rosie was never needed for any of the scenes.

She told of a hilarious improvised scene where Jenny robbed a loaf of bread.

“There was one part where she was meant to lie beside the fire next to Padraic but she took off and robbed a loaf of bread which wasn’t scripted,” she smiled.

“I also trained her to walk around the room and scamp out the different areas, to go around the chairs and under the table, so she would get used to walking a different route through the room and go to Colin, so it would look very natural,” Megan recollected.