Barry Keoghan declares himself 'King of Ireland' as he shares fan-made sketch portrait

The actor, who was recently nominated for an Oscar for his role in The Banshees of Inisherin, shared the sketch drawn by Irish actor Aaron Blu Doyle-Heffernan to his Instagram story.

The picture depicts Keoghan wearing a crown and a fur cloak, in the style of a Game of Thrones character.

“King of Ireland,” he wrote, sharing the image.

Keoghan was hailed an “inspiration” after an old interview about his tough childhood resurfaced amid January’s Oscars buzz.

Author James Leighton shared a clip from a “remarkable” 2018 Late Late Show interview in which Barry spoke about losing his mother, who died of a heroin overdose aged 31.

“It was a new thing and people didn’t know the effects,” Barry had explained.

“The drugs hit the area and it affected all the families and she was one of them that got caught.

“I was living with my Nanny at that stage. I was 12. She was very young. She was 31. I have great memories of her and I’m very proud of her”.

The actor also opened up about how he and his brother Eric moved around 13 different foster homes between the ages of 5 and 12 before settling in with their Nanny Patricia, aunt Lorraine, and older sister Gemma in the inner-city area of Summerhill.

“We went into foster care and the families we went to were good to us. We went to a few of them. They kept us together, which was great,” Barry recalled.

“Every family was good to us. As a kid, you don’t know what’s happening; you get attached and then boom – let's move over here.

“It’s a weird one. It’s only when you get older, you can look back and get a bit of perspective on it.

“So, I don’t have a hometown,” he joked before adding: “I’m only messing, I do. Summerhill”.

The Banshees of Inisherin received nine Oscar nominations, making history with the most nominations for an Irish film.

His co-star Brendan Gleeson was nominated in the same category, while Kerry Condon and Colin Farrell earned spots on the Best Supporting Actress and Best Actor in a Leading Role shortlists, respectively.