CLARE musician Aisling Lyons is in line for two prizes at a prestigious national awards ceremony next week.

The harper has been nominated for this year’s RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards in both the Best Folk Instrumentalist and Best Emerging Artist categories.

The Folk Awards night will be in Vicar Street Dublin on Thursday, November 17.

The following night Aisling will perform with Sean Lyons and Dermot Sheedy in Glór premiering their new work ‘Merfolk’ which has been a collaborative project developed by Glór and Creative Ireland Clare. 

Aisling who also plays concertina, performs alongside Seán on vocals/guitar/uilleann pipes/whistles and Dermot on bodhrán/percussion at the Ennis venue.

The three began playing together in 2021 and have refined a folk sound that is deeply-rooted in tradition yet brimming with originality.

Focusing primarily on the traditions of music and song in County Clare, their music displays a reverence for the past as well as a willingness to embrace modern influences and international folk traditions.

Through soulful musicianship, thoughtful arrangements and rhythmic exploration, Merfolk breathe new life into some of the finest traditional tunes and songs of Clare’s rich canon while also adding new compositions of their own.