In general it's not my type of thing but Mick Flannery is about the only singer-songwriter type Irish act that i've heard that i actually thought was good, he's from Cork, only saw him for the first time a few months ago and was blown away, www.mickflannery.com has some songs you can download

I don't tend to chip in to these conversations because I don't see the point of endless he's good/he's s**te type conversations but as you asked, I like: - The first 2 David Kitt albums, hated the third one, the covers one was something of a return to form. - Gemma Hayes' first album, some might say that it's paperthin indie-lite but I think it's got a lot of charm. - Pete Courtney is pretty good from the little I've heard. - Brendan O'Shea - Jape's most recent album, not so hot on the first one. - Damien Rice, I'm a big fan (somewhere off the west coast of Ireland a surfing cowboy just shuddered). As for Glen Hansard, I like The Frames, they're a very good band, maybe not as good as the size of their audience here warrants but a lot better than their international audience reflects, they can be s**t-hot live but I always felt that their studio albums do don't them justice.

Emmet Tinley, is about the only one around at the moment. The Devlins are a very, very guilty pleasure.

I second that Emmet Tinley vote Mully. My favourite is probably Niall James Holohan though. So much material around if you want to check it out www.nialljamesholohan.com

I'm a huge Roesy fan myself. I really like Emmet Tinleys voice but maybe haven't heard the right song yet. Also I saw some guy called Elton Mullany once who I can't track down since. A fantastic voice and some great songs. Maybe someone here knows him. I think he was in Brando and DeNiro but these two have also gone off the radar.

Martin Finke.. Some really mellow stuff at times, really simple tunes but powerfull all the same. But he can also do heavier faster songs which are also excellent

jenny lindfors is really good - and there's a guy from killarney called jamie burke (I think) who I like too - hopefully both will have platinum albums, cool t-shirts, stadium gigs, etc very soon....

paul tiernan - great voice, great guitar playing, great songs. some mp3 on his site - www.paultiernan.com glen hansard the singer is amazing, love his voice. he writes great songs, as a singer/songwriter (solo) he gives good gig, reckon the frames are one of irelands top bands. never met the guy so i can't comment on him as a person, but as a musician he's quality. won't mention any diminutive cellbridge native... 'o' no, not again...

Understand people always say this about the Frames, but For the Birds could not be any better, even if they were playing in front of me.

love for the birds. i think it's just that a good gig is maybe a better overall experience than listening to a cd, and frames gigs are usually very good.

i didn't really want this to turn in to another frames thread but i do happen to agree with miwadi... for me, anyone who abuses for the birds as some copycat singer songwriter formula is completely missing the point... anyway, martin finke writes indie-poetry that is hard to match, adrian crowley does similar, nina hynes is ploughing her own furrow quite successfully... i hate the generalisation that irish singer / songwriters have no originality... the good ones are just working under the radar somewhat, just like everywhere else in the world

There are plenty of really good singer/songwriters on these shores: Gemma Hayes Nina Hynes Colm Lynch Ann Scott Clive Barnes Julie Feeney Brendan O'Shea David Kitt Roesy Mark Geary Jenny Lindfors Cathy Davey Neosupervital Declan O'Rourke Elaine K Ian Whitty Tadhg Cooke Alyanya Katell Keineg Goodtime John Jamie Lawson Alice Jago Joe Whyte The Mighty Stef Fionn Regan Iain Archer Joe Chester Mundy Stewart Agnew Jeff Martin Damien Rice John Spillane Bill Coleman Fiach Shay Cotter Adrian Crowley Yngve Donal Lunny Christy Moore Damien Dempsey Jonathan Casey Ronan O Snodaigh

now gar... as much as i admire your enthusiasm and whilst noting that i was the one who was complaining at everyone's bitching about irish talent... you've gone a step too far there... i think we can (almost) universally agree that a few of those names are examples of why the whole genre has been tarred with the same brush... i'd hate to name them though... that would be cruel

Well the thread was turning into a 'Are The Frames better live or on cd' debate so I went back to the original point where you wanted to know what good singer/songwriters are out there. Despite people's personal opinions on some of the acts mentioned above, I'd be happy to pay to see any of them live or pick up their latest release. By listing so many, I was merely trying to include more names into the discussion rather than everyone agreeing on one or two - thus answering your question.

i know, gar... i'm sorry... i think it just defeated the purpose of trying to find out whether the dissenters thought that there was any talent out there, whatsoever... and thus come to some sort of agreement on the cream of the crop... none of them seem to be commenting, though... i'll try a different approach now, i know i wrote a review of his last album, but surely there isn't anyone out there who thinks that martin finke is "just another boring singer / songwriter"?

I just think it's a daft question that highlights why many of us are just cheesed off with the whole so-called "singer songwiter" thing. The problem is the narrow definition of songwriter. Neosupervital writes brilliant songs, on a Synthar, but thats outside the cliche of Dylanesque semi-acoustic rock that seems to class someone as a "singer songwriter". There just seems to be a big deal about the acousting weilding folks "write songs", well guess what, so does everyone else who creates original music + lyrics, and anyway theres no shame in letting someone else write the tunes for you (e.g. Motown). I just think that whole scene needs to get less hung up on making a big deal about bein "real" and "writing own songs" and just get on with making great music by any and all means neccesary. Right, now that my grumpy old man rant is over, time to run for cover from the inevitable, coffee house, accoustic loving, tree hugger jihad. Ah, moderator instigated flame wars, isn't that what Cluas is all about? feel the love...