Welcome to the official website of the young, up and coming Irish Traditional band Ioscaid!

Formed in late 2009, Ioscaid soon made a name for themselves winning the prestigious Siansa Gael Linn Competition in April 2010 in front of a sell out crowd of 2500 in the National Concert Hall in Dublin.

Since then Ioscaid have gone on to win the
 BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award 2012

"This young group is amazing-Trad at its best!”
(American Public Radio)

Find out more about the band and the members in the About section

Summer 2012 Music Festivals

Ioscaid will be making appearances at some of the biggest summer music festivals this summer. On 1st July the lads will be playing as part of the finale show of Celtic Fusion International Music Festival in Castlewellan, Co. Down. Ioscaid will be sharing the festival bill with some huge names including Sharon Shannon, Dougie MacLean, Guidewires and many others so its looking to be a great eleventh year for the festival.

The lads will be making the trip to Cambridge from 26th to 29th July for the prestigious Cambridge Folk Festival. The world renowned festival is looking to be as good as ever with a vast lineup of some of folk's greatest artists (Clannad, Joan Armatrading, Nanci Griffith and Four Men & A Dog to name a few).

In preparation for the summer the lads from Ioscaid have been making the first steps toward a debut CD and we will keep you updated with any new developments.

More summer news to be announced soon! Here's to a busy, tuneful (and warm?) summer!!


February 2012

BBC Young Folk Award Winners – 2012


The Lowry Theatre in Manchester was the venue for the 2012 BBC
Folk Awards on 8th February 2012, and it was a night that Ioscaid  will never forget!


In  October last year the guys performed in Kendal in the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk  Award semi-final, and, out of 10 acts, were chosen to progress to the finals, along with 3 other fantastic acts including Sunjay Brayne, Blair Dunlop and Graham Mackenzie.

 All 4 acts were then invited to the BBC Folk Awards Final presented by Julie Fowlis and Mike Harding and with an audience including
legends of folk such as The Dubliners, Don McLean, Andy Cutting, Tim Edey, Christy Moore…the list was endless.

 Ioscaid played during the live interval show along with the other Young Folk Award nominations before joining the rest of the crowd in the main auditorium.  

Ed Byrne was introduced onto stage to present the Young Folk
Award and tension was building as the competition was so tight for the title.

 ‘And the winner is…..Ioscaid!’-The lads couldn’t believe it and
slowly made their way onto stage to collect the trophy from Ed and make a short acceptance speech.

 It was a great night meeting all the musicians and singers after
the ceremony and the tunes and songs went long into the night/morning with The Dubliners really showing their experience, still going strong as ever at 4am! 
 
We had a great night all round and have made some great friends
along the way, congrats to the 3 lads Graham, Blair and Sunjay as well and we’re sure to meet them again soon!

 Ioscaid would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has helped them along the way, family, friends and everyone else! 
 
The great news is that the guys have agreed to record an EP, due
to be released at the beginning of the summer, and they have been speaking to numerous gig and festival organisers. So keep the ears open, eyes peeled and watch this space!!
 
That’s all folks

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Ioscaid have brand new gig dates confirmed!
Check out the Gigs page and see when we're playing next!!