If you care about the arts in Ireland, it’s hard not to have extremely mixed feelings about St. Patrick’s Day. It can, at times, feel like a degrading cash-cow, exploiting the rich cultural heritage of the country for commercial gain with the sole purpose of chasing those sweet, sweet tourist dollars rather than genuinely seeking to celebrate the rich tapestry of poetry, painting, music, film and literature. Not to mention our considerable contributions to the world via science and technology.

Doing something for St. Patrick’s Day can feel reductive because much like a dog at Christmas, Irish music isn’t just for Paddy’s Day. And, every year, we wrestle with those feelings and eventually decide that the best thing that we can do is try and steer people’s attention away from the tourist trad and the Paddywhackery by highlighting the best of the here and now.

With that in mind, here’s a selection of some of our favourite Irish tracks of 2022. This is just a sample of what Ireland has to offer today.