Grammy Awards 2026: Who are the Irish nominations?
Ottoline Spearman
Five Irish artists have been nominated for the 2026 Grammy Awards, which take place on Sunday.
Held every year in Los Angeles, the awards celebrate music achievements and are regarded as the most prestigious awards in the music industry.
Meet the five Irish nominees.
Ruairi O’Flaherty
A Killarney native, currently living in California, O'Flaherty is nominated in the Album of the Year category for his work as a mastering engineer on Sabrina Carpenter’s ‘Man’s Best Friend’ and Kendrick Lamar’s ‘GNX’. He is also nominated in the Record of the Year category for Carpenter’s ‘Manchild’ and Lamar’s ‘luther’.
These four nominations bring his career Grammy nominations total to seven, with the previous nominations being for his work on albums by Sabrina Carpenter and Lana del Rey.
A mastering engineer is responsible for the final step of producing an audio track, and it is both a creative and a technical skill.
Donnacha Dennehy
The Dublin-born composer has ‘Land of Winter’, his largest non-operatic work, nominated in the Best Contemporary Classical Composition and Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance categories.
The 12 movement piece explores the character of Irish seasons through rhythm and harmony.
Emma O'Halloran
The composer from Athlone, Co Westmeath is nominated for Best Opera Recording for double opera Trade/Mary Motorhead.
Exploring the complex lives of three characters, the operas are based on original plays by Mark O’Halloran.
Naomi Louisa O'Connell
Cork-born Mezzo-soprano Naomi Louisa O’Connell, now based in New York City, is nominated for Best Opera Recording Category for her performance on two separate works: Emma O’Halloran’s double opera 'Trade/Mary Motorhead' and Mary Kouyoumdjian’s opera 'Adoration'.
O'Connell's performance work encompasses both theatrical and operatic repertoire.
Elaine Kelly
Cork-born Elaine Kelly is a conductor, currently based between Cork and Dublin. She is nominated in the Best Opera Recording category for Emma O’Halloran’s opera double bill, ‘Trade/Mary Motorhead’.
In 2025, Kelly was the first-ever Irish conductor to earn a Grammy nomination, receiving the nod for her work on Akathist.
