New to the parish - Beloved donkey from award-winning film becomes Carlow resident

A beloved donkey featured in the award-winning film Banshees of Inisherin has become Carlow's newest resident. 

That's according to Rita Moloney of Fircroft Animal Actors, who spoke to Vulture.com about scouting Jenny the Donkey for the film. 

Speaking about the reaction of the film's director upon meeting the animal she said, "Martin McDonagh, the first time he ever saw her, he just fell in love with her. She was a miniature donkey, but she was different, because she was very petite. As a breed specimen, she wasn’t great. You wouldn’t show her, and she wasn’t capable of doing much work.” 

Despite being unsuitable as a working donkey, Jenny proved to have a penchant for acting thanks to a lot of training and encouragement from her donkey screen-double, Nosy Rosie. 

Rita said, "It was exceptionally hard to try and find a match for Jenny,. She was absolutely petite and absolutely perfect. She had the donkey attitude, more diva than any of the actors or actresses. And she knew she was different. When Rosie arrived from England, she was a totally different kettle of fish. Rosie was used to being around people. It was amazing to see the difference." 

Although Jenny reportedly gave star Colin Farrell - who played protagonist Pádraic - a little kick at one point, Rita insisted it "wasn't malicious". 

Farrell affectionately mentioned the donkey in his Golden Globes speech after snagging the win for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy. 

After thanking McDonagh and his co-stars, he said, "And lastly, Jenny the Donkey who is... yeah, yeah Jenny! She's having an early retirement because she said, 'F*ck the film business, you're welcome to it. I'm one and done!'" 

Director McDonagh was reportedly so enamored with the donkey that he ensured she'd live an easy life for the rest of her days. 

Rita said, "Martin fell so in love with her that he never wanted her to work again.

"He asked if she could just do this movie, and then retire. Now she’s just a happy donkey running with other miniature donkeys. I only saw her about three weeks ago down in County Carlow, and she’s looking fine, fit, and healthy. She’s just living the dream.”