Singer Ed Sheeran has made a surprise appearance at this year’s Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in Wexford, hosting a performance at a local pub.
Rumours had been circulating since last week that the Galway Girl singer would attend, with organisers saying these were “just rumours”, until Tuesday.
Those involved in the festival received notice a “little bit in advance” of his arrival.
The unplanned performance caused a bit of a headache for those involved in event control, one person involved said, laughing, with an influx of attendees hoping to catch a glimpse of the A Team singer.
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By the time Sheeran arrived on Tuesday at the Sky & The Ground pub, on the town’s South Main Street, large crowds had already gathered and surrounded it.
He performed several well-known hits, including Nancy Mulligan, a song inspired by his Wexford-born grandmother Anne Mary Sheeran, who died in 2023 at the age of 98.
He also performed a cover of Wild Mountain Thyme with trad group Biird and later sang Perfect for crowds outside who failed to get a spot inside.
Sheeran, who was born and raised in England, recently told how he identifies culturally as Irish.
The 34-year-old, who was brought up in Suffolk, has a large Irish family and said he would spend his holidays in the country as a child.
“I class my culture as Irish. I think that’s what I grew up with,” he told The Louis Theroux Podcast.
The performance has generated buzz around the town of Wexford, which was hosting a festival already outperforming last year’s numbers.
Between 80,000 and 100,000 are estimated to have attended on Sunday, according to organisers, who expect more than 750,000 to attend throughout the week, compared with about 650,000 attendees last year.
Michael D Higgins officially opened the festival for the last time as President on Sunday, saying it had a “special place in my heart and in the hearts of the Irish people, both at home and abroad”.
