Via The Journal Of Music: The recipients of the Gradam Ceoil TG4 2025 awards have been announced.
The annual awards recognise artists, groups and individuals that have made an outstanding contribution to Irish traditional music, song and dance.
The awards ceremony will take place at the University Concert Hall, Limerick, on Sunday 4 May and will be broadcast live on TG4 and online via the TG4 Player.
The 2025 award recipients are:
Gradam Ceoil (musician): Siobhán Peoples
Amhránaí (singer): Cathy Jordan
Gradam Saoil (lifetime achievement): Matt Cranitch
Grúpa Ceoil (group): Flook
Ceoltóir Óg (young musician): Colm Broderick
Cumadóir (composer): Johnny Óg Connolly
Gradam Comaoine (outstanding contribution): Áine Hensey
The awards were announced yesterday (26 March) at Iveagh House in Dublin. In a new collaboration between TG4 and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the artists will perform as part of Ireland's cultural programme at Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan, later this year.
Commenting on the awards, Proinsias Ní Ghráinne, Commissioner Editor at TG4, said:
We are proud to be able to honour such excellence through Gradam and celebrate with artists who are shaping the future of our music, song and dance. Year on year, TG4 strives to expand the reach of our music through worldwide broadcasts. This year’s collaboration with Expo ensures a further expansion of this reach in Asia and throughout the world. Comhghairdeas ó chroí agus go mairfidh sibh bhur ngradaim.
About the winners:
Siobhán Peoples is a renowned fiddle player from Ennis, Co. Clare. She has taught at the University of Limerick for over two decades and was instrumental in revitalising the Ennis Trad Festival. In 2002, she released Time on Our Hands with Murty Ryan, and in 2023, she received the MÓRglór award for her contributions to Irish music. She is the daughter of the legendary fiddle player Tommy Peoples.
Cathy Jordan from Roscommon has been the singer with the band Dervish for nearly 30 years, performing globally and recording 14 albums with the group. She also plays guitar, bouzouki, bodhrán and bones. She has collaborated with songwriter Brendan Graham and explored Irish-American musical connections with the group The Unwanted. Her most recent project, The Crankie Island Song Project, was nominated for an RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Award. She has also worked as a broadcaster on Fleadh TV and has received several honours, including the BBC Lifetime Achievement Award.
Matt Cranitch from Cork is a renowned fiddle player and recognised for his expertise in the Sliabh Luachra tradition. He has performed with groups such as Na Filí, Any Old Time and Sliabh Notes, and in a duet with Jackie Daly. His manual The Irish Fiddle Book is widely used and he also edited a collection of tunes by Jackie Daly. His albums include the collection of slow airs Éistigh Seal and The Living Stream with Daly. He holds a PhD from the University of Limerick for his research on the Sliabh Luachra style.
Flook have been performing together since 1995 and are known for their innovative folk sound. The members are Brian Finnegan (whistles, flute), Sarah Allen (flute), Ed Boyd (guitar), and John Joe Kelly (bodhrán). Their albums include Flatfish (1999), Rubai (2002), Haven (2005), Ancora (2019), and, most recently, Sanju (2025), and they won the BBC Folk Award for Best Band in 2006.
Colm Broderick is an uilleann piper from Carlow who has won multiple All-Ireland titles as well as the Seán Ó Riada Bonn Óir. He teaches annually at the Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy and other events and has performed internationally. In 2019, in recognition of his talent, Na Píobairí Uilleann entrusted Colm with the pipes of the late Liam O’Flynn.
Johnny Óg Connolly’s tune compositions have been widely performed and he has also composed two song cycles – An tEarrach Thiar based on the poetry of Máirtín Ó Direáin, and Fad Saoil based on the poetry of Joe Steve Ó Neachtain. He was also commissioned by Stiúideo Cuan to compose a suite of music, An Cosán Draíochta, written in memory of his father, the late Johnny Connolly. A widely respected accordion player, his solo albums include Aisling Yoshua and Fear Inis Bearachain, and he has also recorded duet albums with Brian McGrath and the late Charlie Lennon.
Áine Hensey began her broadcasting work in 1979 with RTÉ Radio 2, followed by periods working with Radio 1 and Clare FM. She joined Raidió na Gaeltachta in 1995, where she produced and presented numerous programmes, most recently Binneas Béil and An Ghealach Ghorm. Beyond broadcasting, she has been involved in events such as Slógadh and Éigse Mrs Crotty and is currently co-director of Consairtín, the national concertina convention. She has also served as cathaoirleach of Gael Linn and is currently chairperson of the Irish Traditional Music Archive. In 2012, she earned a PhD in early modern history from Maynooth University.
An independent panel from the traditional music community selected the recipients.
Tickets for the awards ceremony are available here.
Read more from the Journal Of Music here.
