This is a list of composers from Ireland working in the classical (art music) tradition. It does not contain composers for pop, rock, trad, jazz, or film music. For Irish film music composers search for the 'Irish film score composers' in the search box above.

A – D

* Michael Alcorn (born 1962), contemporary composer * Michael William Balfe (1808–1870), romantic opera composer best known for '' The Bohemian Girl" * Gerald Barry (born 1952), contemporary composer *

Walter Beckett Walter Beckett may refer to: * Walter Beckett (composer) (1914–1996), Irish composer * W. N. T. Beckett Captain Walter Napier Thomason Beckett, MVO, DSC (1893 – 1941) was a noted Royal Navy officer in both the First World War and the ...

(1914–1996), 20th-century composer * Ed Bennett (born 1975), contemporary composer. * Seóirse Bodley (born 1933), contemporary composer * Michael Bowles (1909–1998), 20th-century composer *

Brian Boydell Brian Patrick Boydell (17 March 1917 – 8 November 2000) was an Irish composer whose works include orchestral pieces, chamber music, and songs. He was Professor of Music at Trinity College Dublin for 20 years, founder of the Dowland Consort, con ...

(1917–2000), 20th-century composer *

Ina Boyle Ina Boyle (8 March 1889 – 10 March 1967) was an Irish composer. Her compositions encompass a broad spectrum of genres and include choral, chamber and orchestral works as well as opera, ballet and vocal music. While a number of her works, incl ...

(1889–1967), female 20th-century composer * John Buckley (born 1951), contemporary composer * John Wolf Brennan (born 1954), Switzerland-based contemporary composer *

Thomas O'Brien Butler Thomas O'Brien Butler (3 November 1861 – 7 May 1915; lost on the ''Lusitania''), was an Irish composer who wrote the Irish-language opera ''Muirgheis'' (1903). Biography O'Brien Butler, as he was generally known, was born in Caherciveen, Count ...

(1861–1915), Celticist composer *

Charles Thomas Carter Charles Thomas Carter (c.1735 – 12 October 1804) was an Irish composer and organist with mixed success as an opera composer in London, but with some songs that remained popular beyond his lifetime. Life There is considerable confusion about th ...

(c.1735–1804), 18th-century composer * Thomas Carter (1769–1800), 18th-century composer * Patrick Cassidy (composer), contemporary composer *

Charles Clagget Charles Clagget lso spelled Claget, Claggett, Claggitt(1740 – c.1795) was an Irish musician, composer, and inventor of improvements for musical instruments. Early career Clagget was born in Waterford, Ireland, in 1740. He led theatre bands in ...

(1740–c.1795), 18th-century composer *

Seán Clancy Seán Clancy (7 July 1901 – 17 September 2006) was a veteran of Ireland's War of Independence. Clancy served in the war as a member of Irish Republican Army, and later as a commander of the Fifth Infantry Battalion in the Irish Defence Fo ...

(born 1984), contemporary composer *

Rhona Clarke Rhona Clarke (born 21 January 1958) is an Irish composer and pedagogue. Biography Rhona Clarke was born in Dublin and comes from a musical family. She sang in a women's choir from age 14 and was an outstanding piano pupil at the College of Musi ...

(born 1958), contemporary composer * Ann Cleare (born 1983), contemporary composer *

Siobhán Cleary Siobhán Cleary (born 10 May 1970) is an Irish composer. Her most successful compositions have been her orchestral works ''Alchemy'' and ''Cokaygne'' and her choral piece ''Theophilus Thistle and the Myth of Miss Muffett''. Her opera ''Vampirell ...

(born 1970), contemporary composer * Philip Cogan (1750–1833), classical period composer * Rhoda Coghill (1903–2000), 20th-century composer * Houston Collisson (1865–1920), opera and ballad composer * Thomas Simpson Cooke (1782–1848), early 19th-century composer * Frank Corcoran (born 1944), contemporary composer resident in Germany * Shaun Davey (born 1948), 20th-century romantic composer * Jerome de Bromhead (born 1945), contemporary composer * Raymond Deane (born 1953), contemporary composer * Donnacha Dennehy (born 1970), contemporary composer and founder of the Crash Ensemble * Seán Doherty (born 1987), contemporary composer *

Roger Doyle Roger Doyle (born 17 July 1949) is an Irish composer best known for his electro-acoustic work, for which he was made a Saoi of Aosdána, and for his piano music for theatre. Education Born in Malahide, County Dublin, Doyle studied piano from t ...

(born 1949), contemporary composer known for electro-acoustic music *

Arthur Duff Arthur Knox Duff (13 March 1899 – 23 September 1956) was an Irish composer and conductor, best known for his short orchestral pieces such as the Handel-inspired ''Echoes of Georgian Dublin''. His career also encompassed senior positions in th ...

(1899–1956), 20th-century composer * Benjamin Dwyer (born 1965), contemporary composer

E – K

Michele Esposito Michele Esposito (29 September 1855 – 19 November 1929) was an Italian composer, conductor and pianist who spent most of his professional life in Dublin, Ireland. Training Esposito was born at Castellamare di Stabia, near Sorrento. As a boy ...

(1855–1929), Italo-Irish composer * Hormoz Farhat (born 1929), 20th-century composer * Eibhlís Farrell (born 1953), 20th-century composer * Howard Ferguson (1908–1999), Northern Irish composer based in England *

John Field John Field may refer to: *John Field (American football) (1886–1979), American football player and coach *John Field (brigadier) (1899–1974), Australian Army officer *John Field (composer) (1782–1837), Irish composer *John Field (dancer) (192 ...

(1782–1837), romantic composer and pianist, notable for cultivating the nocturne * Aloys Fleischmann (1910–1992), 20th-century composer *

W. H. Grattan Flood Chevalier William Henry Grattan Flood (baptised 1 November 1857 – 6 August 1928) was a noted Irish author, composer, musicologist, and historian. As a writer and ecclesiastical composer, his personal contributions to Irish music produced endu ...

(1857–1928), composer and music historian * David Flynn (born 1977), contemporary composer *

Charlotte Milligan Fox Charlotte Olivia Milligan Fox (17 March 1864 – 25 March 1916) was an Irish composer, folk music collector and writer. Life Charlotte Milligan was born in Omagh, County Tyrone, on 17 March 1864 to Methodist parents, Seaton F. Milligan (1837 ...

(1864–1916), composer, arranger and folksong collector *

Thomas Augustine Geary Thomas Augustine Geary (Timothy Geary) (1775 – November 1801) was an Irish composer, pianist and organist, with a precocious talent particularly in vocal and piano writing. Biography Geary's original first name was Timothy; it is presumed that ...

(1775–1801), 18th-century composer * Patrick Gilmore (1829–1892), Irish-American composer and bandmaster *

John William Glover John William Glover (19 June 1815 – 19 December 1899) was an Irish composer, conductor, organist, violinist, and teacher. Life and music Glover was born in Dublin, where he initially became an orchestral violinist as early as 1830. In 1848, he ...

(1815–1899), 19th-century composer * Deirdre Gribbin (born 1967), contemporary composer * Wellington Guernsey (1817–1885), ballad and piano composer * Ronan Guilfoyle (born 1958), contemporary composer and jazz bassist * Carl Hardebeck (1869–1945), early 20th-century composer and arranger * Hamilton Harty (1879–1941), late romantic composer and a leading conductor of his time *

Swan Hennessy Edward Swan Hennessy (24 November 1866 – 26 October 1929) was an Irish-American composer and pianist who lived much of his life in Paris. In his pre-War piano music, he excelled as a miniaturist in descriptive, programmatic music. After joining ...

(1866–1929), Irish-American, Paris-based composer * Victor Herbert (1859–1924), Irish-American composer of musicals * Arthur Hervey (1855–1922), late 19th-century composer and music critic *

Michael Holohan Michael Holohan (born 27 March 1956) is an Irish composer. Biography Michael Holohan was born in Drumcondra, Dublin. He was educated at O'Connell's Schools, University College Dublin (BA, 1978) and Queen's University in Belfast. He studied co ...

(born 1956), contemporary composer and writer * Ciaran Hope (born 1974), contemporary composer * Herbert Hughes (1882–1937), composer and skilful arranger of traditional music * Francis Ireland (1721–1784), late baroque composer * Fergus Johnston (born 1959), contemporary composer *

T. R. G. Jozé Thomas Richard Gonsalvez Jozé, known as T. R. G. Jozé (26 September 1853 – 20 March 1924), was an Irish organist, teacher, choral conductor and composer who was mainly associated with the Royal Irish Academy of Music where he taught for about ...

(1853–1924), organist and composer * William Henry Kearns (1794–1846), 19th-century composer * Vincent Kennedy (born 1962), contemporary Irish composer * Michael Kelly (1762–1826), tenor and opera composer * T.C. Kelly (1917–1985), neo-romantic 20th-century composer * John Kinsella (1932–2021), contemporary composer

L – O

John F. Larchet John Francis Larchet (13 July 1884 – 10 August 1967) was an Irish composer and teacher. He studied at Trinity College Dublin (MusB 1915, MusD 1917), also at the Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM) with Michele Esposito. Larchet was music dire ...

(1884–1967), late romantic composer and influential teacher *

Richard Michael Levey Richard Michael Levey (25 October 1811 – 28 June 1899), mostly known as R. M. Levey, was an Irish violinist, conductor, composer, and teacher. He was one of a handful of noted musicians who kept Dublin's concert life in the nineteenth century ...

(1811–1899), 19th-century composer, violinist and conductor *

Samuel Lover Samuel Lover (24 February 1797 – 6 July 1868), also known as "Ben Trovato" ("well invented"), was an Irish songwriter, composer and novelist, and a portrait painter, chiefly in miniatures. He was the grandfather of Victor Herbert. Life Lov ...

(1799–1868), composer of operettas and songs *

Michael McGlynn Michael McGlynn (born 11 May 1964) is an Irish composer, producer, director, and founder of the vocal ensemble Anúna. Career McGlynn was born in Dublin and attended Coláiste na Rinne and Blackrock College. He was a student of Music and Eng ...

(born 1964), contemporary composer, founder of choral group Anúna * John McLachlan (born 1964), contemporary composer *

Paul McSwiney Paul McSwiney or Paul Mac Swiney (March 1856 – 17 November 1889) was an Irish composer and dramatist who emigrated to the United States. A talented artist with a number of pioneering performances in both Cork and New York, he unsuccessfully tr ...

(1856–1890), 19th-century composer * Philip Martin (born 1947), contemporary composer and pianist * Frederick May (1911–1985), 20th-century composer *

Ernest John Moeran } Ernest John Smeed Moeran (31 December 1894 – 1 December 1950) was an English composer of part-Irish extraction, whose work was strongly influenced by English and Irish folk music of which he was an assiduous collector. His output includes or ...

(1894–1950), early 20th-century English composer with Irish connections *

James Lynam Molloy James Lynam Molloy (19 August 1837 – 4 February 1909) was an Irish composer, poet, and author. His songs were praised by his contemporaries; one said that he "will be remembered, or certainly his songs will, long after the 'superior' and so-c ...

(1837–1909), composer of popular ballads *

Peter K. Moran Peter K. Moran . K. Moran(30 June 1767 – 10 February 1831) was an Irish pianist, composer, and music publisher – probably the earliest classical composer from Ireland to emigrate to the United States. Life Moran was probably born in Dubl ...

(1767–1831), early 19th-century composer *

Gráinne Mulvey Gráinne Mulvey (born 10 March 1966) is an Irish composer. Biography Mulvey was born in Dún Laoghaire, County Dublin, Ireland, and studied with Eric Sweeney at Waterford Regional Technical College, Hormoz Farhat at Trinity College Dublin an ...

(born 1966), contemporary composer *

Alicia Adelaide Needham Alicia may refer to: People * Alicia (given name), list of people with this name * Alisha (singer) (born 1968), US pop singer * Melinda Padovano (born 1987), a professional wrestler, known by her ring name, Alicia Places * Alicia, Bohol, Phil ...

(1863–1945), composer of popular ballads *

Havelock Nelson Havelock Nelson (25 May 1917 – 5 August 1996) was an Irish composer and conductor. Life Nelson was born in Cork and studied in Dublin with Dina Copeman and Dorothy Stokes at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, organ with George Hewson and com ...

(1917–1996), 20th-century light music composer * Ailís Ní Ríain (born 1974), contemporary composer *

Robert O'Dwyer Robert O'Dwyer (in Irish: Riobárd Ó Duibhir) (27 January 1862 – 6 January 1949) was an Irish composer mainly known for having written one of the first operas in the Irish language. Biography Robert O'Dwyer was born to Irish parents in Brist ...

(1862–1949), early 20th-century composer * Kane O'Hara (c.1711–1782), composer of burlettas (early comic operas) *

Eoin O'Keeffe Eoin O'Keeffe (born 20 April 1979) is an Irish composer and arranger. Biography O'Keeffe grew up in Clonmel, Ireland. As a member of his local youth band, he played clarinet and later trumpet, before spending some time as conductor and arranger ...

(born 1979), contemporary composer * Joseph O'Kelly (1828–1885), Franco-Irish romantic composer * Arthur O'Leary (1834–1919), 19th-century composer *

Jane O'Leary Jane O'Leary (born 13 October 1946) is an American-born Irish musician and composer who has been living in Ireland since 1972. Biography Jane O'Leary (née Strong) was born in Hartford, Connecticut. She graduated ''summa com laude'' from Vassar ...

(born 1946), contemporary American-Irish composer * Seán Ó Riada (1931–1971), 20th-century composer and arranger of traditional Irish music *

George Alexander Osborne George Alexander Osborne (24 September 1806 – 16 November 1893) was an Irish composer and pianist. Biography Osborne was born in Limerick. He left Ireland at the age of eighteen for Brussels, where he was appointed music instructor for the el ...

(1806–1893), 19th-century piano composer

P – Z

* Geoffrey Molyneux Palmer (1882–1957), 20th-century composer * Annie Patterson (1868–1934), early 20th-century composer and musicologist *

A. J. Potter Archibald James Potter (22 September 1918 – 5 July 1980) was an Irish composer and teacher, who wrote hundreds of works including operas, a mass, and four ballets, as well as orchestral and chamber music. Early years Potter was born in Be ...

(1918–1980), 20th-century composer * Joseph Robinson (1815–1898), 19th-century composer, conductor, and teacher *

William Michael Rooke William Michael Rooke (29 September 1794 – 14 October 1847) was an Irish violinist and composer. Biography Born William Michael O'Rourke in South Great George's Street, Dublin, he was the son of a local tradesman. He studied counterpoint with P ...

(1794–1847), 19th-century opera composer * Thomas Roseingrave (c.1690–1766), baroque composer * Charles Villiers Stanford (1852–1924), prominent late romantic composer *

John Andrew Stevenson Sir John Andrew Stevenson (November 1761 – 14 September 1833) was an Irish composer. He is best known for his piano arrangements of ''Irish Melodies'' with poet Thomas Moore. He was granted an honorary doctorate by the University of Dublin and ...

(1761–1833), composer of operas and of the original accompaniments to Moore's Melodies *

Robert Prescott Stewart Sir Robert Prescott Stewart (16 December 1825 – 24 March 1894) was an Irish composer, organist, conductor, and teacher – one of the most influential (classical) musicians in 19th-century Ireland. Biography Stewart was born in Dublin; his gr ...

(1825–1894), 19th-century composer, organist and conductor * Hope Temple (1859–1938), composer of popular ballads * George William Torrance (1835–1907), 19th-century composer * Joan Trimble (1915–2000), 20th-century composer *

Gerard Victory Thomas Joseph Gerard Victory (24 December 1921 – 14 March 1995) was a prolific Irish composer. He wrote over two hundred works across many genres and styles, including tonal, serial, aleatoric and electroacoustic music. Biography Victory ...

(1921–1995), 20th-century composer * Kevin Volans (born 1949), contemporary composer born in South Africa, now an Irish citizen * Joseph Augustine Wade (1796–1845), 19th-century composer * W. Vincent Wallace (1812–1865), 19th-century composer of operas and piano music * Jennifer Walshe (born 1974), contemporary composer and vocal artist * Bill Whelan (born 1950), contemporary composer * Ian Wilson (born 1964), contemporary composer * James Wilson (1922–2005), prolific Irish-based composer * Charles Wood (1866–1926), late romantic composer, known for his church music * Richard Woodward (c.1743–1777), baroque composer

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Irish Composers, List Of Composers Ireland Composers