They’ve done it again – Irish actors, musicians and directors have taken over Hollywood. The nominations for the 2010 Golden Globe Awards came out today, and in music and in acting, Irish talent is soaring high.

Daniel Day-Lewis has been nominated for Best Performance by an Actor for his role in “Nine.” He plays a director struggling to balance his work with his demanding personal life (including a wife and mistress).

An Irishman playing a British politician also caught Hollywood’s eye. Brendan Gleeson is up for Best Performance for Television for  his portrayal of World War II prime minister Winston Churchill in HBO’s “Into the Storm.”

George Clooney has been nominated for his role in “Up in the Air,” as a heartless executive whose job is to fire people. He loves travelling and spends his life in hotels and airport lobbies, until something happens that brings him down to the ground.

And Jim Sheridan’s movie, “Brothers,” garnered a two  separate awards. U2 could win Best Original Song for their music on the film’s soundtrack, including a new song, “Winter,” and Tobey Maguire is up for Best Performance by an Actor for his part as a soldier who returns from war.

Sheridan’s movie, which also stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Natalie Portman, has had mixed reviews in the press. It’s about two brothers, the Cahills, and a woman who’s married to one of them. One brother has just got out of prison (Gyllenhaal) while another has returned from fighting in Afghanistan (Maguire), and Natalie Portman’s character ultimately falls in love with them both.

The film came out just days after Obama announced he would send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan. “There is a grim timeliness to the release of 'Brothers,'" the New York Times said in its review on December 4. In an interview with the LA Times Sheridan himself described the film as “a Cain and Abel story.”

The Golden Globes award ceremony is on January 17, 2010, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. With so many nominees the Irish will have to come away with something. Even if they don’t it looks like it will be one hell of a party.