International Women's Day: The 50 Best-Selling Albums in Ireland by Women

To celebrate International Women’s Day, (March 8), IRMA and the Official Irish Charts have unveiled the biggest female artist albums of all-time.

In Ireland, the Top 50 features a host of international stars alongside Irish talent and combines physical, download and album streams of female soloists and all-female groups.

Top of the list is Adele with her second album 21 , which is the highest-selling album of all time in Ireland by a female artist and the second biggest in Irish Chart history, beaten only by David Gray’s White Ladder. Adele has a further two entries on the Irish Charts Top 50, with her most recent album 25 at Number 11 and her 2008 debut 19 at Number 27.

Runner up on the list is Lady Gaga whose debut album The Fame is the second biggest selling female artist album. It spawned the Irish Number 1 singles 'Just Dance' and 'Poker Face' as well as 'Bad Romance' and 'Telephone' when the album was re-packaged with The Fame Monster EP in 2010.

Amy Winehouse’s second album Back To Black rounds out the Top 3, closely followed by Leona Lewis’ debut Spirit and singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman’s eponymous album completes the Top 5.

Dublin singer-songwriter Imelda May takes the honour for Ireland’s biggest female album by a homegrown artist; her second record Love Tattoo released in 2008 places at 15, while follow-up Mayhem from 2010 is at 28 on the list. Other notable Irish females on the list include Celtic-folk musician Sharon Shannon with her 2012 best of The Galway Girl at 46 and Enya’s greatest hits Paint The Sky With Stars shines at 49.

Finally, the battle of the girl bands is won by Beyonce, Kelly and Michelle as Destiny’s Child’s Survivor narrowly beats Spice Girls debut Spice at Number 31 and 32 respectively.

See the full list below:

1 21- ADELE
2 THE FAME- LADY GAGA
3 BACK TO BLACK - AMY WINEHOUSE
4 SPIRIT - LEONA LEWIS
5 TRACY CHAPMAN - TRACY CHAPMAN
6 COME AWAY WITH ME - NORAH JONES
7 COME ON OVER - SHANIA TWAIN
8 NO ANGEL - DIDO
9 GOOD GIRL GONE BAD - RIHANNA
10 BREAKAWAY - KELLY CLARKSON
11 25 - ADELE
12 I DREAMED A DREAM - SUSAN BOYLE
13 LOUD - RIHANNA
14 I AM SASHA FIERCE - BEYONCE
15 LOVE TATTOO - IMELDA MAY
16 LUNGS - FLORENCE & THE MACHINE
17 LIFE FOR RENT - DIDO
18 FALLING INTO YOU - CELINE DION
19 ALL THE WAY - A DECADE OF SONG - CELINE DION
20 LET'S TALK ABOUT LOVE - CELINE DION
21 SONGBIRD - EVA CASSIDY
22 THE IMMACULATE COLLECTION - MADONNA
23 MISSUNDAZTOOD - PINK
24 THE GREATEST HITS - WHITNEY HOUSTON
25 THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION - WHITNEY HOUSTON
26 OUR VERSION OF EVENTS - EMELI SANDE
27 19 - ADELE
28 MAYHEM - IMELDA MAY
29 MY LOVE - THE ESSENTIAL COLLECTION - CELINE DION
30 LET GO - AVRIL LAVIGNE
31 SURVIVOR - DESTINY'S CHILD
32 SPICE - SPICE GIRLS
33 GREATEST HITS - MY PREROGATIVE - BRITNEY SPEARS
34 EYE TO THE TELESCOPE - KT TUNSTALL
35 LAUNDRY SERVICE - SHAKIRA
36 1989 - TAYLOR SWIFT
37 CEREMONIALS - FLORENCE & THE MACHINE
38 TEENAGE DREAM - KATY PERRY
39 ROCKFERRY - DUFFY
40 DANGEROUSLY IN LOVE - BEYONCE
41 FUNHOUSE - PINK
42 THE MISEDUCATION OF - LAURYN HILL
43 PIECE BY PIECE - KATIE MELUA
44 BORN TO DIE - LANA DEL REY
45 CONFESSIONS ON A DANCE FLOOR - MADONNA
46 THE GALWAY GIRL - THE BEST OF - SHARON SHANNON
47 SONGS IN A MINOR - ALICIA KEYS
48 TALK THAT TALK - RIHANNA
49 PAINT THE SKY WITH STARS - THE BEST OF - ENYA
50 RAY OF LIGHT - MADONNA