Donegal duo to compete in Glór Tíre Grand Final

Two Donegal contestants have reached the Grand Final of Glór Tíre.

Country singers Chelsea Evans and Jason McCahill are both aiming to win the title of Ireland's Glór Tire Country Music Champion 2024 - one of the most prestigious award titles in Irish Country. The final of the long-running Country Music show will be broadcast live on TG4 on Tuesday 23 April at 9.30pm. 

Glór Tire season 20 is heading for the finish line, and the pressure is mounting as the Grand Final approaches, but Dunfanaghy native, Chelsea Evans is enjoying every single moment of it. “I’d love to go back and do it all again! I don’t want it to end,” she said. Chelsea has described her Glór Tíre journey as “surreal” and “overwhelming”, but also “the best experience.” 

The young singer, who only turned 20 last month, but who already has an album and two EPs to her name, has impressed with her performances of songs by Lisa McHugh and Brett Young, while her version of Dolly Parton’s ‘Blue Smoke’ on last week’s edition, showcased a truly natural Country voice.

Chelsea is thrilled at the support she has received since first appearing on Glór Tíre in March, and she is especially grateful for the support from her native county.

“From the show with Jim Devine, myself, and Gerard Gormley aired, the response has been something I could never have imagined,” she said “The show aired at half-nine and two minutes later my phone was popping. It was crazy! People’s well-wishes, and words of support and encouragement - that just means so much. It was so overwhelming. I was wondering, ‘How am I going to get through all these messages?’

“And oh, Donegal! I wouldn’t want to be from anywhere else. The communities, no matter where you’re from in Donegal, they just get out and support you. It makes you proud to be from Donegal.”

Chelsea has what it takes to be a real contender for the Glór Tire 2024, win but no matter what happens next week, this experience will stand to the young woman.

“Glór Tíre is beneficial for everyone as it really does help your name get out there, and hopefully it’s the same for me,” she says. “You’re getting to do what you love to do, you’re getting the opportunity to be in a studio. It’s a fantastic platform I’d recommend any singer to try. It’s an amazing opportunity you’ll never get again.”

Jason McCahill, a Ramelton native, described as the laughing boy and ‘cheeky chappie’ of this year’s Glór Tíre, has also made it to the Grand Final 

In a dramatic semi-final last Tuesday, Jason won the public vote, beating off strong competition from Kildare’s Alistair Fingleton, Tyrone’s Gerard Gormley, and Louth’s Jenny Hanlon, for the right to compete for the title of Ireland’s Glór Tíre Country Music Champion 2024.

Jason admits to a rush of emotions, from “shock” to “my mouth went dry” to being “over the moon” as his name was called out. “There was a wee fist pump, but it hasn’t sunk in yet,” he says. “Honestly, I was standing on the stage, saying to myself, I’m just happy to have gone as far as I’ve got. That’s all changed now, we're going for the big one next week.”

It is a far cry from when Jason started the competition. Back then, he felt just being on the show was already a win. However, being mentored for Glór Tíre by rising Irish Country star, Claudia Buckley - daughter of one of Jason’s musical heroes, Jimmy Buckley - and duetting with her, along with strong solo performances of John Denver’s ‘Thank God I’m A Country Boy’ and Randy Travis’s ‘Three Wooden Crosses’, revealed a lively and engaging performer, with a strong and natural Country voice.

“The first show with Claudia, I was nervous, and I’m not a nervous person,” says Jason. “Then coming down last week, I don’t know what it was, but I didn’t care about the cameras, I didn’t care about anything. I went on the stage thinking, ‘This might never happen again, go and enjoy it’.”

The result was Jason in the final. It marks, not just a victory for the 26-year-old delivery driver from Ramelton, but a victory for Donegal and Ulster.

Jason is one of two Donegal natives in the final, the other being Chelsea Evans from Dunfanaghy. Also in the final is Fermanagh’s Karl Kirkpatrick. In all, three West Ulster performers are going for the Glór Tíre title  - a fact that genuinely delights Jason.

“It’s Ulster dominated,” he declares. “Country music is an all-Ireland thing, but Donegal, Tyrone, Fermanagh, I don’t know what it is, no matter who is playing, no matter where you go around them parts, it’s jammed, it’s wedged, you can’t get in! So I’m proud to be from Donegal and proud to be from Ulster, the heartland of Country and Irish music.”

Indeed the support from Donegal, and the wider region, has been enthusiastic for Jason. “It’s been mental,” he says. “I can’t thank the people enough. They made a wee village man from Ramelton very, very happy. Hopefully, everyone is proud and I’m indebted to them.”

Jason is also grateful to Claudia Buckley for the support she has given, and part of him also wants to win it for the Galway singer.

“I can’t thank Claudia enough. She’s an absolute gem,” he says. “Hopefully we can go one further - me or Karl, who she also mentored - and make her the youngest Glór Tíre mentor to have a series winner.”

For the Grand Final, Jason promises to “go out with a bang no matter what”, and has hit the ground running in his campaign to ensure Glór Tíre victory.

“My plan is no different to the last couple of weeks. From tomorrow morning, I’ll be annoying people on social media,” he laughs, “keeping the campaign going, maybe making a couple more funny videos. We push on again and come down again next week and enjoy it, no matter what happens.”

The Glór Tire Grand Final is on TG4 on Tuesday 23 April at 9.30 pm and will be presented by Aoife Ní Thuairisg. The judges will be RTÉ Raidio na Gaeltachta’s Jó Ní Chéide and Caitriona Ní Shuilleabháin, with guest judge, Eddie Rowley (Sunday World).