Peadar Connolly
Irish singer and multi-instrumentalist blending Irish traditional song with global folk traditions
Peadar Connolly is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist performing on voice, autoharp, and global woodwinds. With a background in ethnomusicology, his work draws on folk traditions from Ireland and beyond, exploring the shared musical languages that connect cultures. Alongside his solo performances, Peadar has worked internationally as a musician and producer across Europe, collaborating on projects that bring together artists and traditions from different parts of the world. Through his music, he highlights common human experiences of longing, migration, and memory that resonate across traditions.
Alongside his work as a performer, Peadar is an active songwriter whose music moves between folk and contemporary pop styles. He was a songwriter on the second-place entry in Eurosong 2024, Go Tobann, performed by Ailsha, and is currently preparing a series of upcoming releases featuring original songs alongside reimagined interpretations of folk and pop repertoire.
As a producer, Peadar has collaborated with artists internationally. He is part of Oda 3, a production collective specialising in Albanian urban folk recordings. Albums produced with the group have received multiple four- and five-star reviews from Songlines and have been nominated for the Songlines Music Awards. He has also produced freelance projects, including Seeds by Oxford-based folk band Moonaroon.
Peadar has performed both as a solo artist and with a range of ensembles, including the East Asian folk fusion group The Sages, which he co-founded with musician Tu Yijia, as well as appearing with Shaun Davey and Rita Connolly’s band and with the folk group Moonaroon. Now based in Drogheda, Ireland, he performs regularly across Ireland and the UK.
Alongside his performance work, Peadar curates Global Jam at Droichead Arts Centre, an open musical session designed to encourage cross-cultural collaboration among musicians from different backgrounds.
Much of his current work centres on a developing project exploring “songs of longing”, bringing together repertoire from different traditions that express forms of longing such as love, migration, homeland, and memory. Through his performances and recordings, Peadar seeks to highlight the shared emotional landscapes that connect musical traditions across the world.
Peadar Connolly’s concerts can take many forms, from intimate solo acoustic performances to larger ensemble collaborations. Each performance is tailored to the venue and its audience, creating a programme that moves fluidly between Irish song and folk traditions from around the world.
Drawing on his background in ethnomusicology, Peadar’s sets bring together songs from different cultures that explore shared human experiences such as longing, migration, love, and memory. His performances combine traditional repertoire with original compositions and reimagined interpretations of folk and contemporary songs.
A recent programme explored songs of longing from across the world, featuring repertoire from Ireland, Albania, Greece, Cape Verde, Canada, Serbia, and Kosovo. Through these songs, Peadar examines different perspectives on longing and migration, revealing how these emotions resonate across cultures and musical traditions.
Peadar Connolly is an Irish singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer whose work explores the connections between musical traditions across cultures. Performing on voice, autoharp, and global woodwinds, his music brings together Irish song with folk traditions from around the world, shaped by both artistic practice and academic research.
Through his BA and MA studies in music and ethnomusicology, Peadar has researched a range of vocal traditions including Irish folk song and Albanian urban folk music. This work continues to inform his performances, which often weave together songs, stories, and influences from different cultures. Peadar has performed in notable venues such as the National Concert Hall in Dublin, Rich Mix in London, Reja in Tirana, An Taibhearc in Galway, and Oxford Town Hall in Oxford.
His debut release, Codhlaím go Suan, released in December 2025, received recognition from Irish outlets including RTÉ Lyric FM, Hot Press and The Irish Times.
Simple Tech Rider
Solo set up:
Vocals - one vocal mic with stand
Autoharp - one DI
Monitoring speaker
1 chair
Testimonials
"Rather than limiting himself to a single genre or tradition, his practice brings together songs from different parts of the world that explore similar themes, from migration and love to sleep and celebration."
— The Irish Independent
“Peadar is an outstanding musician with unique and creative talents. His distinctive, expressive and sensitive artistic voice is combined with a rare ability to adapt the autoharp to a genuinely global range of musical styles.”
— Lucy Durán - Professor Emerita, SOAS University of London; BBC Radio 3 presenter & producer