The Ultimate Irish Gospel Music Playlist: Celebrating Ireland’s Gospel Music Heritage

Gospel Music Heritage Month Ireland | September 2026

Ireland’s gospel music story is bigger, older and more diverse than many people realise.

From the worship songs of Northern Ireland that travelled around the world, to Irish Christian rock, contemporary worship, choirs, African-Irish gospel, soul, hip-hop and a new generation of independent artists, gospel and faith-inspired music have developed a distinctive place within Ireland’s musical landscape.

To celebrate Gospel Music Heritage Month this September, Gospel Music Ireland is building what we believe can become the definitive soundtrack to that story:

The Ultimate Irish Gospel Music Playlist

The playlist is still growing — and that is precisely the point.

Rather than presenting Irish gospel music as one sound, one church tradition or one generation, the Ultimate Irish Gospel Music Playlist is designed as a living archive of gospel and Christian music connected to the island of Ireland.

It brings together pioneers, established artists and emerging voices while allowing listeners to discover just how broad the Irish gospel music story really is.

From Belfast worship to Irish Christian rock

Any exploration of Irish Christian music quickly encounters songs that travelled far beyond Ireland.

Robin Mark, from Belfast, became one of Northern Ireland's most recognisable worship artists, with songs including Days of Elijah becoming known internationally.

Bluetree, also formed in Belfast, carried that tradition into a different generation. Their God of This City became considerably bigger than its place of origin, travelling into churches and worship movements internationally.

But the history is not limited to congregational worship.

Irish Christian and gospel music has also had a rock story. Split Level deserves a place in that history, representing an important strand of Irish Christian rock and demonstrating why a heritage playlist must reach beyond what contemporary listeners might automatically classify as “gospel.”

Artists such as Brian Houston further demonstrate the breadth of faith-influenced music to emerge from Northern Ireland.

A changing Ireland created a changing gospel sound

The Irish gospel landscape has changed significantly over the past several decades.

Ireland's growing cultural diversity brought new musical traditions into churches, choirs, studios and eventually the wider music scene.

African gospel, contemporary gospel, Afrobeat, R&B, soul, worship and urban music increasingly became part of what gospel music in Ireland sounded like.

That story can be heard through artists including Adeniyi Allen-Taylor, Samuel Kenneth, Liz Dayspring, BrightRaay, Tobi-A, Chris Kabs and others whose music reflects an Ireland in which gospel is increasingly multicultural.

This is an important part of Irish musical heritage.

Irish gospel music does not have to sound like American gospel to be gospel, nor does being Irish require an artist to fit into one traditional Irish musical identity.

The music being created by people who have made Ireland their home is part of the evolving story of music on this island.

We Are Messengers and a new international generation

That story also includes artists whose Irish roots have connected with audiences internationally.

We Are Messengers, formed by Irish singer Darren Mulligan, have built a substantial international audience with songs including Maybe It's OK, Come What May, Wholehearted and Magnify.

Their success illustrates something particularly important about the Ultimate Irish Gospel Music Playlist: Irish gospel and Christian music should not be viewed solely through the size of Ireland's domestic market.

Some of its songs and artists have reached audiences far beyond these shores.

More than a Spotify playlist

The ambition behind the Ultimate Irish Gospel Music Playlist is bigger than simply assembling popular songs.

It is about heritage, discovery and preservation.

Who were the pioneers?

Which Irish gospel songs defined particular decades?

What happened in Irish Christian rock?

How did gospel choirs develop?

How did migration change Ireland's gospel sound?

Which artists achieved international success?

And who are the emerging artists creating the next chapter right now?

These are questions Gospel Music Ireland wants to explore throughout Gospel Music Heritage Month.

The playlist therefore remains deliberately open.

There are artists still to discover. There are recordings that may have been overlooked. There are independent releases known within individual churches or communities that deserve a wider audience.

And there will undoubtedly be names missing from its early editions.

The Ultimate Irish Gospel Music Playlist is not finished. It is being built.

Help us build the Ultimate Irish Gospel Music Playlist

Throughout September, Gospelmusic.ie will celebrate Gospel Music Heritage Month Ireland with artist stories, historical features, interviews, music, events, archive material and discoveries from across the island.

We also want musicians, churches, choirs, producers, promoters and gospel music listeners to help us uncover the music that belongs in this story.

If there is an Irish gospel artist, Christian band, choir, worship artist or song that should be included in the Ultimate Irish Gospel Music Playlist, we want to hear about it.

The objective is ambitious: to build the most comprehensive accessible collection of Irish gospel music, Irish Christian music and gospel artists from Ireland — from the pioneers to today's emerging generation.

Because before we can celebrate where Irish gospel music is going, we should know the people, songs and communities that helped bring it here.

This September, discover the sound. Discover the artists. Discover the history.

Welcome to Gospel Music Heritage Month Ireland.

Submissions: info@gospelmusic.ie
Presented by: Gospel Music Ireland
Gospel Music Heritage Month Ireland — September 2026