The girl group who've sold out venues and toured the world - without releasing a record

The all-female supergroup has sold out venues across the UK and Ireland, toured stadiums with Ed Sheeran, and built a global following - all without releasing a debut record. BIIRD: All-female Irish trad band set to take flight 'Our main objective is to change the image around women in trad' Copyright current_year BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. Copyright current_year BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. Eleven women, all dressed in neutral, elaborate outfits featuring knits and lace. They all have elaborate hair and makeup and are lined up staring at camera The girl group who've sold out venues and toured the world - without releasing a record BIIRD's founder says the group aim to change the image around women in traditional Irish music A group of eleven female musicians pose together in a studio setting, wearing elaborate and varied neutral toned outfits, arranged around two large harps with several holding traditional instruments such as fiddles. BIIRD had never played together when they stepped on stage in Trafalgar Square to face 10,000 people on St Patrick's Day 2024. Eleven Irish traditional musicians stood side-by-side in elaborate costumes, some meeting for the first time only hours before the performance. Two years later, the all-female supergroup has sold out venues across the UK and Ireland, toured stadiums with Ed Sheeran, and built a global following - all without releasing a debut record. Their rise has been rapid, driven almost entirely by the strength of their live performances and word of mouth. A blonde haired woman on stage holding a violin For singer and flautist Miadhachlughain O'Donnell, from County Down, the scale of what the group are now doing would have seemed unimaginable during that first performance. "It was mental, to be honest," she said. "It was done in the blink of an eye… I don't think we had another gig for a couple of months, I didn't really know where it was going to go from there." Since forming in 2024, the group have played numerous shows Members of BIIRD perform on an outdoor stage in front of a large screen displaying the band’s name, with musicians in varied outfits standing and moving across the stage alongside instruments and microphones. While BIIRD's direction of flight may have been uncertain to its members at first, founder Lisa Canny had been quietly developing the "Spice Girls of trad" concept for about a decade. While BIIRD's direction of flight may have been uncertain to its members at first, founder Lisa Canny had been quietly developing the "Our main objective, other than making beautiful music, is to change the image around women in trad and folk," Canny said. "There are these incredible shows that tour the world like Riverdance and Celtic Woman and Lord of the Dance, but the representation of women in these groups is still very much outdated." A seven-time, All Ireland harp and banjo champion from County Mayo, Canny has long held the reputation of being "the baddie of trad", according to BIIRD fiddle player and harpist Sal Heneghan. "I think there's never been anything like this done in trad before… With the all-female, and the grungy look as well," she said. "She's always been known to break the rules and go for different types of stuff." Ciara Murphy, Miadhachlughain O'Donnell and Lisa Canny perform in the collective Three women pose together inside a warmly lit bar with wooden walls and shelves of bottles in the background, wearing layered and textured outfits. Two of them have brown hair, and the third has long red plaits with a hood. Idea in mind, the group was not created through auditions or strategic casting. Instead it emerged from a web of relationships Canny had formed in the traditional music world, with many of the musicians already aware of each other's work. The group's scale, however, wasn't necessarily part of the original plan, with the group alternating between eight and 11 musicians, depending on the production. "Yeah, it's a big show," admitted concertina player Zoran Donohoe from County Cavan. "The way she handpicked all of us, it kind of just got to 11 and she was like, 'well, we're going to have to go with this now'. "We were all just so unique and so different and all had our own things going on. And she was like, 'there needs to be a stage and a place for all of these women'." BIIRD are known for their high-energy sets, combining Irish traditional music with a contemporary pop edge Musicians perform on a small stage with violins, harp, guitar, and cello while a crowd stands closely in front, raising hands and recording on phones under warm stage lighting. If the band's size is striking, so too is its aesthetic. BIIRD works with Irish designers and stylists, championing sustainable, theatrical clothing from the likes of Simone Rocha, Paul Costelloe and Sara O'Neill. If the band's size is striking, so too is its aesthetic. BIIRD works with Irish designers and stylists, championing sustainable, theatrical clothing from the likes of Corsets, glitter, heavy eyeliner and dark tones mark a striking departure from the traditional image of an Irish folk musician, and it hasn't gone unnoticed. "Our first photo shoot kind of - I'm not going to say broke the internet - but everyone in the trad world was like, 'what the hell is going on here?'" Donohoe recalled. "We were all a bit shocked, we were wearing stuff that we would never wear… but now we're used to it and we love dressing up, it's like putting on a costume every day." The group are passionate about promoting Irish fashion designers Eight women stand in a line outdoors in front of a rocky cliff, wearing coordinated, fashion-forward cream and black outfits with boots and layered textures, posing on a roadside against a natural stone backdrop. O'Donnell added that the revamped look brought a learning curve when it came to performing in more restrictive outfits: "I'm used to wearing trackies, so that was an experience." And although their styling feels modern, the musicians are keen to stress they're not reinventing the wheel - BIIRD's sound remains rooted in Irish tradition, albeit with a contemporary twist. Their songs weave in Irish lilting, set against a lively mix of drums, fiddles, flutes, harps, banjos, cello and concertina - skills honed over years of playing house parties, pub céilís and traditional festivals. A debut album, featuring a number of original compositions, is currently in the works The image shows a live music performance on a stage. A group of musicians is gathered in what appears to be an indoor venue, likely a concert or rehearsal setting. In the foreground, a woman on the left is holding a violin under the chin and drawing a bow across the strings. The posture is slightly leaned forward, focused on the instrument. The woman on the right is also playing a violin, sitting cross‑legged and angled toward the other performer. They are all dressed in cream, textured outfits. "There's a lot to be said for the small, intimate gigs," Heneghan said. "They can really get the crowd going, they respond really well and you can kind of connect more." It was in this environment that they first crossed paths with Ed Sheeran, who joined them for an impromptu session in a County Wexford pub during last year's Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann. It was in this environment that they first crossed paths with Ed Sheeran, who joined them for an impromptu session in a County Wexford pub during last year's Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann. "It was just instantly he was like, 'you guys are great, come on tour, what do you need? … It was amazing," Donohoe said. True to his word, the Galway Girl hitmaker has thrown his weight behind the band, bringing them on as opening acts alongside fellow Irish artists Beoga, Amble and Aaron Rowe on his ongoing Loop tour. True to his word, the Galway Girl hitmaker has thrown his weight behind the band, bringing them on as opening acts alongside fellow Irish artists Beoga, and Aaron Rowe on his ongoing Loop tour. After meeting in a pub in County Wexford, Ed Sheeran has supported the group Lisa Canny and Ed Sheeran stand close together outdoors with their arms around each other, both wearing matching white shirts with “BIIRD” printed on the front. Lisa wears a plaid skirt, while Ed has visible tattoos on one arm and is wearing brown trousers. A colorful sign or mural appears in the background, along with a few other people nearby. Speaking to BBC News NI in April, weeks after their stadium shows in Australia and New Zealand, O'Donnell said it's been a thrill to take their music to the southern hemisphere "where there's so many Irish people". Among them, Heneghan, who relocated to Sydney last September and was struck by the amount of people that already knew about the band. "When they heard that we were coming over and gigging, it was just incredible the feedback we all got, it was great craic," she said. After a run of high-profile stadium performances, and some of their own UK and Ireland headline shows, BIIRD are due to re-join Sheeran in the US later this year. In the meantime, they have been working on their debut album at the renowned Decoy Studios in Melton, England. Eight of the members recently joined Ed Sheeran's Loop tour for performances in Australia and New Zealand Music group - eight women stand arm in arm on a concert stage facing a large stadium audience, with instruments including a harp visible at the side under colourful stage lighting. Expected to include a number of Canny's original compositions, the record is coming together nicely, according to Donohoe. "It works very well, we're very used to being around each other and playing music together and just if there's any issues saying it to each other." she said. And while the group continues to ride the whirlwind of touring and a newfound sisterhood, O'Donnell said she hopes they are laying the groundwork for something more enduring. "I think people have definitely been inspired to pick up music and learn songs - younger girls, especially, when they see women in that space," she said. "In years to come, there may be other BIIRDs that fill our space... Hopefully it lives on past our time." A ginger haired singer wearing a red checked shirt singing into a mic with tattoos up his arm. 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Police and emergency services responded to a call in north Dublin shortly after 00:30 local time on Saturday. BIIRD's rise has been rapid, driven almost entirely by the strength of their live performances and word of mouth. After four years of flops, the BBC has to think hard about how it approaches Eurovision in 2027. Bulgarian singer Dara is a surprise winner beating Israel in second place, while the UK's Look Mum No Computer gets just one point.