2024 was a mixed bag. It was the year of the Olympiad; of painting the town Brat green; of feuds abated (the Gallagher brothers) and feuds created (Kendrick Lamar v. Drake); of blockbuster movies; of sell-out world tours and so much more.

In many ways, it was a good year to be Irish. Readers all over the world restlessly awaited the arrival of Sally Rooney’s fourth novel, Intermezzo. Team Ireland performed excellently at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris and brought home the hardware with four gold and three bronze medals. Irish filmmakers claimed the spotlight during awards season, marking another huge year for Irish cinema.

The Irish-produced Poor Things made history at this year’s Academy Awards with four wins. In a milestone that surprised no one, Cillian Murphy won Best Actor at the Oscars for his performance as the complicated physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer in Christopher Nolan’s titular film. Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal and Barry Keoghan were also nominated...

Mescal received even more buzz this year after portraying a rhino-fighting warrior in Gladiator II. Saoirse Ronan established herself as film royalty with two uncompromising performances in The Outrun, which she also produced, and Steve McQueen’s Blitz. After four previous Acadeny nominations, we’re keeping our fingers crossed that 2025 might see Ronan finally bag an Oscar.

It is no secret that Kneecap – our Phenomenon of the Year – were the surprise new stars of 2024. They unleashed their acclaimed debut album, sold out venues across the globe, and released their eponymous biopic – which received racve reviews and took the Irish Language revival to even greater heights. They remained politically active, protesting against Israel’s murderous war unleashed on Gaza and its people.

Further afield, Challengers, featured a sporty, complex love triangle portrayed by Zendaya, Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist. It was hailed as an erotic tennis romp that shook headlines and social media, throwing the ‘Tenniscore’ aesthetic headlong into cultural consciousness.

Sequels, meanwhile, were all the rage, with the Tim Burton classic Beetlejuice being rebooted as Beetlejuice Beetlejuice; the Dune saga receiving its second film instalment; Gladiator (2001) being revisited for Gladiator II; Mad Max returning in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga; and DC Comics thriller Joker: Folie à Deux hitting the screens.

In other news, Oasis announced their long-awaited reunion with a massive world tour to toast the 30th anniversary of their debut album Definitely Maybe, signalling that the Gallagher brothers had finally squashed their beef. Their return was marred by a controversy over dynamic pricing with the massive demand to see them live pushing ticket prices into the stratosphere.

While some feuds were quelled, others seemed to drag on incessantly. Kendrick Lamar and Drake got themselves into a lyrical death match, following years of Cold War-style jabs. In March, the rappers went nuclear, releasing not just diss-tracks that topped the charts and made headlines, but also a flurry of allegations and legal suits.

However, the biggest cultural trend of the year was indisputably Brat, spawned by Charli XCX’s excellent chart-raiding album of the same name. The record defined a moment with its fluorescent lime-green colour turning up everywhere, as club goers and political candidates alike declared their own “brat summer”. “Brat” was named the Collins Dictionary Word of the Year. But, sadly, tacking to the trend wasn’t enough to win the US Presidential election for Kamala Harris.

Taylor Swift’s Eras tour arrived in Ireland and was an enormous success, on its way to generating $2.2billion in ticket revenues. Coldplay’s Music Of The Spheres World tour was also in the supernova league – but really, between Taylor, Beyonce, Charli, Lana and Billie, it was a woman’s world in pop music in 2024...

Read the full Whole Hog End of Year Special in the Hot Press Annual 2025 – out now: