Mary Black announces the first half of the shortlist for Ireland's Favourite Folk Song on RTÉ Radio 1

Folk singer Mary Black appeared on the RTÉ Radio 1's Ronan Colllins Show today, to reveal the first five songs that have been shortlisted for Ireland's Favourite Folk Song.

Speaking today with Ronan Collins, Mary Black said:

‘My own life has been so steeped in folk music, it's in my blood if you like. It's very hard to pin it down to just one song but it'll be interesting to see what happens after these five shows... It's very personal, your own favourite is usually something that has some meaning to you... narrowing it down from nearly 1,500 nominations to ten songs was a very very difficult thing to do’.

The public nominated over 1,300 songs, giving the Ireland's Favourite Folk Song jury a mammoth task to whittle that number down to an overall shortlist of 10.

Chaired by Mary Black, the jury was made up of musicians, musicologists and broadcasters, including Dr. Aileen Dillane, Diarmaid Ferriter, Brian Mullen, Nuala O'Connor, Leagues O'Toole, Ruth Smith and Vincent Woods.

The first five to make the shortlist are: 'The Green Fields of France', 'The Foggy Dew', 'Danny Boy', 'A Rainy Night in SoHo' and 'On Raglan Road'.

Tomorrow, Mary Black will be on the show again from 12 midday, to reveal the final five shortlisted songs.

Each Sunday night at 7.30pm on RTÉ One Television, well-known faces will champion their favourite from the shortlist, and delve into the social history behind each song. Across RTÉ Radio and on RTÉ Culture, you'll also be able to enjoy specially-commissioned performances of each of the ten songs.

Voting goes live from 12.45pm on Friday, April 26th.