Wed 13th May – Cathy Jordan

Roscommon born Cathy Jordan has been a professional singer with traditional group Dervish for nearly 30 years. She is a self-taught guitar, bouzouki, bodhrán and bones player.

She has led Dervish as front woman through thousands of concerts in hundreds of cities in nearly 40 countries and has 18 albums under her belt. Among the most notable performances were The Great Wall of China and the biggest rock music festival in the world – Rock in Rio to over 250,000 people.

As a songwriter, she has written songs with internationally renowned Brendan Graham, best known for the most successful song of the twentieth century, You Raise Me Up.

In 2014, she took up the role of presenter of Fleadh TV with TG4. Cathy has been an ambassador for Irish culture and music for over a quarter of a century, and has a deep understanding of traditional Irish songs and singing and has collected hundreds of songs which otherwise may have been forgotten. Cathy and Dervish have been invited to accompany Presidents and Taoisigh of Ireland as cultural ambassadors to China, Latvia and Lithuania.

Dervish’s most recent album The Great Irish Songbook was released in 2019 on Rounder Records and features duets with Vince Gill, Steve Earle, Imelda May, David Gray and more. Over the years Cathy has picked up many awards for her contribution to traditional Irish music including BBC Lifetime Achievement Award 2019, Sligo Cultural Ambassador 2018, Annie McNulty Award 2014 and The Freedom of The City of Sligo in 2010.

In 2023 she released three new albums: Storybook; the songs by Brendan Graham with piano player Fergal Murray; Female Rambling Sailor with Plúirín na Mban with fellow musicians Claudia Schwab and Irene Buckley; and Freight Train with jazz musicians Paul Clarvis and Liam Noble.

In 2024 she released The Crankie Island Song Project album, the culmination of a song for each county accompanied by original scrolling visuals in a crankie box.

2025 saw Cathy receive a Gradam Ceol award from TG4 for singer of the year. She was also nominated for best folk singer, and best album for The Crankie Island Song Project, at the RTE folk awards.

Download Cathy’s full CV here.