ENNISโ€™ Susan Oโ€™Neill was among the big winners at the recent RTร‰ Radio 1 Folk Awards.

For the second year in a row, SON alongside Mick Flannery won the Best Original Folk Track prize for their song โ€˜Chain Reactionโ€™. Her song โ€˜Almostโ€™ was also nominated in the same category.

SON was among the performers in front of a live audience which included President Michael D. Higgins. The awards were presented by Feakle based Ruth Smith and Cork native John Creedon.

Susan was also shortlisted for โ€˜Best Folk Singerโ€™, the award which was secured by Dublinโ€™s John Francis Flynn. Her album with Mick Flannery titled โ€˜In the Gameโ€™ was one of five albums in the running for Best Folk Album with โ€˜Solas an Laeโ€™ by Eoghan ร“ Ceannabhรกin and Ultan Oโ€™Brien taking the spoils.

Maghera native, Martin Hayes was nominated in the Best Folk Instrumentalist. Christy Moore was honoured with the lifetime achievement award while Sarah Makem was entered into the hall of fame.

At the age of sixteen, Susan appeared on RTร‰ talent show โ€˜Youโ€™re A Starโ€™ which was formerly used to select Irelandโ€™s Eurovision entries. When the pandemic struck last year, she was in the first two weeks of a two month tour in Australia and ended up getting an emergency flight home.

In the months that followed, she began working on โ€˜In the Gameโ€™ with Flannery. “That was definitely a product of everything being closed and the gigs shutting down,” she recalled. “I had previously done support to Mick and would join him on stage for a song or two at the end, and it was our mutual manager, Sheena Keane, who suggested that we should work on a tune or two after hearing our voices together. Mick is very good at all the aspects of songwriting, but in my mind he’s particularly amazing with lyrics. He can say something in the most perfect way that encapsulates it all and evokes emotion every time.

“I’ve always been drawn to melody, it has been my strongest part, so to work with somebody whose lyrics are this effortlessly brilliant has been a really beautiful kind of journey for me,โ€ Susan added.

Related News

joe cooney 1
Cooney criticises judicial review process for delaying major infrastructural projects in Clare
leona cusack 1
Shannon woman's family 'haunted' by fear she did not receive medication in time
Screenshot 2025-10-16 111517
Clare Echo Halloween photo contest
john moran jennifer carroll macneill patrick o'donovan 1
Minister says option from HIQA review will be decided before Christmas
Latest News
clarecastle v tubber 21-09-25 ger o'loughlin 1
Sparrow's Clarecastle not overburdened with pressure ahead of chance to seal senior return
conor cusack damien tansey 1-2
Narrative verdict recorded at inquest into death of Shannon woman following breach in HSE sepsis protocol at UHL
joe cooney 1
Cooney criticises judicial review process for delaying major infrastructural projects in Clare
micheรกl duffy 2
Sitting officials linked with Head of Operations vacancy in Clare GAA
corofin v cooraclare 12-10-25 harry o'gorman 2
Youthful Cooraclare can learn from final showing - Daly
Premium
Narrative verdict recorded at inquest into death of Shannon woman following breach in HSE sepsis protocol at UHL
Sitting officials linked with Head of Operations vacancy in Clare GAA
Youthful Cooraclare can learn from final showing - Daly
Murray flying high as he collects second Clare SFC medal with ร‰ire ร“g
Shannon woman's family 'haunted' by fear she did not receive medication in time

Advertisement

Subscribe for just โ‚ฌ3 per month

If youโ€™re here, you care about County Clare. So do we. Did you rely on us for Covid-19 updates, follow our election coverage, or visit The Clare Echo every week for breaking news and sport? The Clare Echo invests in local journalism and we want to safeguard its future in our county. By becoming a subscriber you are supporting what we do, will receive access to all our premium articles and a better experience, while helping us improve our offering to you. Subscribe to clareecho.ie and get the first six months for just โ‚ฌ3 a month (less than 75c per week), and thereafter โ‚ฌ8 per month. Cancel anytime, limited time offer. T&Cs Apply. www.clareecho.ie.