A SINGER FROM County Meath – performing at Electric Picnic this weekend – is known to her fans as the ‘Irish Swift’ due to the similarities between her and the American star who announced this week that she is engaged to be married.

Lisa Murray, a multi-talented woman from Ballaghaderreen in the Meath Gaeltacht, has songs including Irish-language versions of Taylor Swift’s hits, and she is one of five participants in a new scheme to promote contemporary music through Irish.

The scheme, called Glór Ár Linne, is run by Radio Rí Rá with support from Dublin City Council and Éire Ildánach, and the participants will take the stage at the Knockanstockan area at the Picnic.

Speaking to The Journal, Murray said she is involved in the scheme as an artist, organiser, and mentor.

“I do gigs and seize every opportunity available to the musicians in the scheme, and in addition to that, I work as a producer and sound engineer with the other musicians.”

She explained that breaking into the music world is tough, so she has to be a “jack of all trades”.

The Hazelwood - An Chollchoill line-up is here! 🧚🪵🌳🎶✨

With music, poetry, comedy and performance art taking place all weekend, likeminded people congregate to warm their hands over the fire and enjoy all that whimsical Hazelwood has to offer 🌿🎶🪵

After the fall of dark,… pic.twitter.com/Yod2B5hwun

— Electric Picnic (@EPfestival) August 14, 2025

Murray’s journey to Electric Picnic is no overnight success story. She spent years writing songs in her bedroom before earning a degree in music and Irish from Trinity College, followed by a Master’s degree.

During the pandemic, she recorded her first single at home, and country radio stations said the song ‘i unfollowed u’ had more than 3 million ‘impacts’ throughout 2022.

It was because of her Irish-language song ‘Uaigneach’— which she wrote about leaving home to emigrate — that she earned the nickname of ‘Gaeilgeoir Swift’.

Lisa said she was delighted with the title.

“When I started posting videos on TikTok after releasing Uaigneach, I was making lots of videos to spread the story, and someone messaged on one of my videos calling me ‘Gaeilgeoir Swift’—Taylor Swift for Irish speakers.

“I didn’t know who that person was, but I thought it was so, so funny — I’m a huge Swiftie. I went to the Eras Tour three times; I’m obsessed with Taylor Swift.”

She also said she made an Irish version of Taylor’s song Love Story. She believes this is the time to be singing in Irish.

“There are doors you can open with Irish and music, and there’s an audience and a wonderful Irish-speaking community right now who want to hear things in Irish and support everything connected to the language — this is a great time for Irish and for the language in general.”

Now she is about to live another dream — she will be on stage at Electric Picnic for the first time tonight and is really looking forward to it.

“If you’re an Irish speaker who loves Taylor Swift, you’ll be hooked on my music,” she said, promising to perform plenty of her own songs as well as Irish versions of other familiar tunes. She guarantees a one-hour ‘girly and Irish’ set for the crowd attending.

The Journal’s Gaeltacht initiative is supported by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme