Dolores Keane to be inducted into Hall of Fame

Dolores Keane will be inducted into the RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards Hall of Fame at the ceremony on November 10 at Dublin's Vicar Street.

The RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards will be hosted by RTÉ's John Creedon and will be broadcast live on RTÉ Radio 1, while a highlights programme will be broadcast on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player on November 14.

Hall of Fame is an award given to a person no longer living who made "a significant contribution to Irish folk music during their lifetime," according to a statement. Previous recipients include Róise Rua, Séamus Ennis, Paddy Moloney and Sarah Makem.

The shortlist of nominees in each category will be announced next week. Seven awards are made each year as a result of voting by the independent Folk Awards Jury. These are: Best Original Folk Track, Best Traditional Folk Track, Best Folk Singer, Best Emerging Folk Artist, Best Folk Instrumentalist, Best Folk Group and Best Folk Album.

Two awards are also given each year by deliberations of the Folk Awards Steering Committee. These are Lifetime Achievement and Hall of Fame.

Dolores Keane passed away in March of this year. Raised in Caherlistrane Co Galway, she grew up immersed in the sean-nós tradition and made her first recording for Radio Éireann at the age of five.

Later, she co-founded the traditional group De Danann in 1975. The band enjoyed national and international success, scoring a hit in Ireland in 1975 with the album The Rambling Irishman and later with Anthem (1985) and Ballroom (1987).

Keane then released her debut solo album There Was a Maid in 1978. In the '90s, she released two popular records, Dolores Keane and A Lion in a Cage - the lead single of which was her first Irish No. 1 hit.

The artist was also praised by fellow musicians, such as late American singer Nanci Griffith, who said, "Dolores Keane, the queen of the soul of Ireland, has a sacred voice."

She released her final song, 'The Refuge' in 2023.

Tickets for the Folk Awards are available here.