Celebrating the very best in folk music in Ireland from the past year

Awards event LIVE in Vicar Street and on RTÉ Radio 1 on Wednesday 26th February

Live performances from Junior Brother, Niamh Regan, Landless, John Spillane’s Folk Opera Fíoruisce, plus five-time Grammy award winner, Mary Chapin Carpenter and many more

Limited number of tickets now on sale from ticketmaster.ie | #rtefolkawards

RTÉ has today announced the nominations for the 7th RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards which will celebrate the very best in Irish folk music from the past year in Vicar Street, Dublin, on Wednesday 26th February at 7.45pm and live on RTÉ Radio 1 from 8pm, hosted by RTÉ’s John Creedon. A television highlights programme will be broadcast on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player on Saturday 1st March.

The nominations for the 7th RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards, 2025, are:

Best Original Folk Track
Caoine – Róis
Chasing the Hare – Alannah Thornburgh
I’m for Gallipoli – Fiach Moriarty (feat. Damien Dempsey)
Old Friend – Lemoncello
The Good Life – Joshua Burnside

2024 Winner: Anáil na hOíche – Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin

Best Traditional Folk Track

Bean an Fhir Ruaidh – Diane Cannon
Helen of Kirkconnell Lea – The Half Room
Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye – Macdara Yeates
The Rocky Road to Dublin – Lankum
Welcome Home, Gráinne – Natalie Ní Chasaide & Iarfhlaith Ó Domhnaill

2024 Winner: Seán Gabha – Piaras Ó Lorcáin and Bláth na hÓige

Best Folk Singer

Cathy Jordan
Christy Moore
Macdara Yeates
Ríoghnach Connolly

2024 Winner: Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin

Best Folk Instrumentalist

Alannah Thornburgh
Diarmuid Ó Meachair
Macdara Ó Faoláin
Sinéad McKenna

2024 Winner: Aoife Ní Bhriain

Best Folk Group

Altan
Cuas
Keane Connolly McGorman
Landless

2024 Winner: Lankum

Best Folk Album

A Terrible Beauty – Christy Moore
Crankie Island Song Project – Cathy Jordan
Fíoruisce – The Legend of the Lough – John Spillane
Keane Connolly McGorman – Keane Connolly McGorman (self-titled)
Lemoncello – Lemoncello (self-titled)

2024 Winner: False Lankum – Lankum

Best Emerging Artist

Cuas
Niamh Bury
Róis
Seamas Hyland
Sinéad McKenna

2024 Winner: Séamus and Caoimhe Uí Fhlatharta

RTÉ RADIO 1 FOLK AWARDS HALL OF FAME

Róise Rua, a renowned singer from Árainn Mhór, Dún na nGall, will be inducted into the RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards Hall of Fame on the night. Róise, who was also known as Róise na nAmhrán, passed on a rich heritage of folk music and preserved many songs that would otherwise have been lost, but have now travelled far beyond her home county.

Georgina Dudgeon, a relative of Róise Rua who has been involved in promoting and celebrating her great-grand-aunt’s legacy, will be among the guests of honour at Vicar Street, to accept the award on her behalf.

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT

The Lifetime Achievement Award winner for 2025 will be announced in February, in advance of the awards. Previous winners are Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill (2024), Mary Black (2022), Christy Moore (2021), Steve Cooney (2020), Moya Brennan (2019) and Andy Irvine (2018). (The RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards did not take place in November 2023, as they were rescheduled to February 2024).

In what promises to be a very special night celebrating Irish folk music, the awards will feature live performances from outstanding musicians such as Junior Brother, Niamh Regan, Landless, John Spillane’s Folk Opera Fíoruisce plus five-time Grammy award winner, Mary Chapin Carpenter and many more. RTÉ presenter John Creedon will again host the awards ceremony in front of a live audience.

A limited number of tickets for the RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards are on sale now via www.ticketmaster.ie and are priced at €33.50 plus €1.50 venue facility fee.

Stay up to date on the latest on the RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards by following RTÉ and RTÉ Radio 1 on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and X and by staying tuned to RTÉ Radio 1.

If you can’t join us in Vicar Street on Wednesday 26th February, join us live on RTÉ Radio 1 at 8pm, and don’t forget our television highlights programme on RTÉ One on Saturday 1st March 2025.

Further information: Neil O’Gorman, Corporate Communications Manager, RTÉ