Irish talent featured prominently among this year’s Grammy winners, with artists and creators from across the musical spectrum underlining the outsized impact of our small island that has a serious global cultural reach.
From chamber music to rap, Ireland made its presence felt on Sunday night at the Los Angeles event, and none more so than Killarney native Ruairí O’Flaherty, who shared in the prestigious Record of the Year win for Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s chart-topping track luther.
A senior master engineer at the renowned Sterling Sound studio in the US, O’Flaherty was part of teams that earned four nominations at this year’s ceremony. In addition to the Record of the Year win, O’Flaherty received credits across several of the Grammys’ most high-profile categories, including Album of the Year nominations for Kendrick Lamar’s GNX and Sabrina Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend, as well as a further Record of the Year nomination for Carpenter’s Manchild.
Elsewhere, Dublin-born composer Donnacha Dennehy claimed the Grammy for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance for Dennehy: Land of Winter, performed by Alarm Will Sound under the direction of Alan Pierson. The album marked Dennehy’s third release and was also nominated for Best Contemporary Classical Composition.
Irish success extended into American roots and folk music, where Aoife O’Donovan won Best American Roots Song with her band I’m With Her for American Light. The group also took home Best Folk Album for Wild and Clear and Blue. O’Donovan’s late father, Brian O’Donovan, was a central figure in Boston’s Irish music scene, and she has previously credited him with shaping her early musical life, saying she grew up “singing a ton of Irish songs.”
Opera and contemporary classical music also saw strong Irish representation. A number of Irish artists were nominated for Best Opera Recording for O’Halloran: Trade/Mary Motorhead, including composer Emma O’Halloran, singers Naomi Louisa O’Connell, John Molloy and Oisín Ó Dálaigh, alongside the Irish National Orchestra. The recording, released in August 2025, features a libretto by Mark O’Halloran.
O’Connell received an additional nomination in the category for her work on Kouyoumdjian: Adoration, while Cork-born conductor Elaine Kelly made history last year as the first Irish conductor to earn a Grammy nomination for her work on Akathist.
Photography: @grammys
