It is shaping up to be a big couple of weeks for folk and traditional music. Next Tuesday the great and good of the Irish folk scene gather in Dublin for the RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards. Six days later, across the Atlantic, the Recording Academy announces the first-ever nominees for a new Grammy category devoted to traditional folk albums.
Vicar Street, Tuesday 10 November: the details
According to RTÉ, the awards take place at Vicar Street in Dublin on Tuesday 10 November. The ceremony will be broadcast live on RTÉ Radio 1 from 8pm, presented by John Creedon. For those who prefer to watch, a highlights programme airs on RTÉ One and the RTÉ Player on Saturday 14 November. Tickets for the night have been on sale through Ticketmaster.
Dolores Keane and Tommy Sands honoured
The emotional centrepiece of the evening is likely to be the Hall of Fame induction of Dolores Keane, the Galway singer who died in March this year. Keane, from a celebrated musical family in Caherlistrane, was a founding member of De Dannan and became one of the most admired voices in Irish traditional and folk singing over a career of more than four decades.
The Lifetime Achievement Award goes to Tommy Sands, the Co Down singer, songwriter and broadcaster, whose songs such as There Were Roses became associated with the search for peace in Northern Ireland.
The nominees: Barry Kerr leads the way
Lurgan musician Barry Kerr has one of the strongest hands, with nominations for Best Folk Singer, Best Original Folk Track for The Curlew’s Cry and Best Folk Album for Curlew’s Cry. Lisa O’Neill and Clare Sands are both up for Best Folk Singer and Best Original Folk Track, while Joshua Burnside and Macdara Yeates complete the singer shortlist.
The full shortlists, as published by RTÉ, are:
- Best Folk Album: An Bhearna Bhán (Jillian O’Malley), Caillte sa Cheol (Ciarán Ó Maonaigh), Curlew’s Cry (Barry Kerr), Ithaca (lullahush), It’s Not Going to Be Okay (Joshua Burnside), Phases (Beoga)
- Best Folk Group: An Chéad Ghlúin Eile, Beoga, Lemoncello, Poor Creature, Ye Vagabonds
- Best Folk Instrumentalist: Caroline Keane, Ciarán Ó Maonaigh, Jack Talty, Seán McKeon, Ultan O’Brien
- Best Original Folk Track: Anam Cara (Clare Sands), Heaven Has No Wings (Dove Ellis), Johnny Workman (Rua Rí), The Curlew’s Cry (Barry Kerr), The Wind Doesn’t Blow This Far Right (Lisa O’Neill)
- Best Traditional Folk Track: Amhrán na Scadán (The Railway Boys), Cad É Sin Don Té Sin (Tríona and Maighread Ní Dhomhnaill), Coleraine Jig (Rattling Ark), De May Bush (Macdara Yeates), Ryan’s Rant (Cormac Begley and Liam O’Connor), The Mickey Dam (Damien Dempsey)
- Best Emerging Artist: Ellie O’Neill, Leevy, Rua Rí, The Railway Boys
There is a healthy amount of Irish-language music on the list, from Jillian O’Malley’s An Bhearna Bhán to The Railway Boys’ Amhrán na Scadán, and Damien Dempsey crops up in the traditional track category.
Meanwhile in Los Angeles: a Grammy for trad
Folk fans will also have an eye on the Grammys. The Recording Academy says nominations for the 2027 awards will be announced on Monday 16 November, streamed from 4.45am Pacific time, which is 12.45pm in Ireland, on Grammy.com and the Grammys’ YouTube channel.
Among five new categories debuting at the 2027 ceremony is Best Traditional Folk Album, alongside new awards for Asian pop performance, R&B collaboration, traditional pop vocal performance and Latin song. It is too early to say whether any Irish acts will feature, but a dedicated traditional folk prize opens a door that Irish and Irish-American traditional musicians have rarely been able to walk through at the Grammys. The ceremony itself takes place on Sunday 7 February 2027 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
What happens next
The winners in Dublin will be revealed live on RTÉ Radio 1 on the night of 10 November, with the TV highlights following on 14 November. The Grammy shortlists land on 16 November, and we will be checking every category for Irish names, from trad to rock.
Sources
- RTÉ: RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards announce 2026 nominations (16 October 2026)
- Recording Academy (Grammy.com): How To Watch The 69th Grammy Awards Nominations (16 October 2026, updated 29 October 2026)
Featured image: Mary Black and Dolores Keane with De Dannan, Trowbridge Folk Festival 1985 by Tony 1212, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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