Details of the Pan Celtic National Song Contest 2026 have been announced and there’s a cash prize of €1,000 to be won as well the national trophy and the opportunity to sing for Ireland! The winning song will go forward as the Irish entry in the Pan Celtic International Song Contest which will be held in Carlow in April ‘26. Composers, singers and writers are invited to create a new song ‘as Gaeilge’ to represent Ireland in the Celtic nations’ answer to the Eurovision.
Bríde de Róiste and Emma Uí Bhroin of the local organising committee explained “The International Pan Celtic Song Contest is like the Eurovision of the six Celtic nations. Each nation must run a national song contest to come up with a newly composed song in their own Celtic language. The standard is always very high and we are already looking forward to hearing next year’s entries”.
Musical director for the song contest is local musician, composer and arranger Ollie Hennessy. He said the contest is open to all genres from traditional and pop, to rock and rap as well as country, jazz or classical. “The only requirement is that both the lyrics and music are original and in Irish. Songs may be written for and performed by solo singers, groups or bands”, he added.
Sponsored by Carlow Local Authorities, IMRO and Gael Linn the competition attracts entries of the highest quality from across the country and a flood of entries is anticipated for the ’26 contest.
Songs may be recorded on smart phone, mp3 etc and emailed to pancelticcarlow@gmail.com The deadline for receipt of entries is 5pm on Monday, 8th December 2025 and the organisers are anxious to point out that a professional recording is not a requirement at entry stage. Entries on cd may also be posted to Pan Celtic Carlow, Glór Cheatharlach, Éire Óg, O’Brien Road, Carlow R93 Y020.
Entries received by the deadline will be shortlisted and the chosen finalists will then compete at the live final which will be staged in the George Bernard Shaw Theatre @ VISUAL, Carlow on Saturday, 24th January 2026. A panel of judges will choose the winning song which will go forward to represent Ireland and go head-to-head with the other national winners from Wales, Scotland, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man at the International Pan Celtic Festival ‘26 which will be held in Carlow next Easter from 7-11 April where the winning song will receive a prize of €1,500 and the international trophy.
Full details on the national song contest as well as the application form are available under Comórtas Naisiúnta 2026 on www.panceltic.ie . Enquiries to 087 2857048 or 085 1340047 or email pancelticcarlow@gmail.com