Junior Brother

Junior Brother is the moniker of Kerry singer‑songwriter Ronan Kealy, one of the most distinctive voices to emerge from Ireland’s alternative folk underground. Singing in his own unapologetic accent and wielding a percussive, almost feral guitar style, he crafts songs that feel ancient and immediate all at once — part myth, part confession, part fever dream.
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Raised in rural Kerry and steeped in the rhythms of Irish storytelling, Junior Brother has carved out a sound that sits far outside the folk mainstream: raw, dissonant, emotionally unguarded, and defiantly original. His debut 'Pull The Right Rope' earned a Choice Prize nomination, while 'The Great Irish Famine' and 'The End' pushed his vision into darker, more experimental territory, cementing him as a singular force in modern Irish music.
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His latest album "The End" was nominated for 'RTE Choice Music Prize' Irish album of the year, and came in at #4 in Hotpress Magazine's albums of the year ahead of Florence and the Machine and Lily Allen, and #7 in Time Out London's albums of the year for 2025
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Onstage, he’s magnetic — stamping out rhythms with a foot‑tambourine, bending melodies into strange, beautiful shapes, and delivering performances that feel ritualistic, vulnerable, and utterly alive.
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Age 18+