Ireland

Traditional Irish music is a living folk tradition of dance tunes such as jigs and reels alongside unaccompanied sean-nós singing and ballads. It is played on instruments including the uilleann pipes, fiddle, tin whistle, bodhrán, and accordion. The 1960s ballad boom, led by groups like The Dubliners and The Chieftains, brought it from pub sessions to concert halls around the world.

Ireland has produced an extraordinary number of global stars. U2 are the biggest, alongside Van Morrison, Thin Lizzy, Sinéad O'Connor, Enya, The Cranberries, and The Pogues. In the pop world Westlife and The Corrs sold tens of millions of records, and a contemporary wave led by Hozier, Fontaines D.C., and CMAT keeps Ireland at the forefront of new music.

Celtic rock is the fusion of Irish traditional melody and instrumentation with electric rock. The Dublin band Horslips pioneered it in the early 1970s, building concept albums around Irish mythology, and The Pogues later pushed the sound to a rowdy peak by blending it with punk. The style influenced countless bands and helped define a distinct Irish rock identity.

Irish emigration spread the music across the globe, and its strong melodies and storytelling translate easily across cultures. Ireland also built a remarkable export pipeline, from the folk revival to U2's stadium rock, Enya's atmospheric pop, and boy-band pop. The result is a tiny island with an outsized and instantly recognisable musical footprint.

The 2020s have been a golden era for Irish music. Fontaines D.C. lead a celebrated post-punk wave, Lankum have reinvented dark traditional folk, and CMAT has become one of pop's most magnetic new voices. Hozier and Dermot Kennedy continue to top international charts, making this one of the most exciting periods in the country's music history.

Dernière révision : 2026-05