Cliona Hagan (born 27 February 1989) is an Irish country music singer from Ballinderry, County Tyrone.

Career

''The All Ireland Talent Show''

Hagan appeared as a contestant on the 2009 first series of the

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, while ...

reality talent competition, ''

The All Ireland Talent Show ''The All Ireland Talent Show'' was a Raidió Teilifís Éireann television series which was billed as Ireland's biggest-ever talent contest. It was first announced in November 2008 and the first series commenced broadcasting on 4 January 2009, ...

''. Mentored by

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pri ...

winner

Dana Dana may refer to: People Given name * Dana (given name) Surname * Dana (surname) * Dana family of Cambridge, Massachusetts ** James Dwight Dana (1813–1895), scientist, zoological author abbreviation Dana Nickname or stage name * Dan ...

, Hagan made it the final of the competition, ultimately losing out to The Mulkerrins.

2010–2015

Following her appearance on ''The All Ireland Talent Show'', Hagan began studying in

Queen's University Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

where she earned a degree in music. She went on to study at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

, where she became qualified in secondary school music teaching. Between 2013 and 2015, Hagan worked as a schoolteacher. In 2016, she decided to give it up to pursue a career in singing.

2015–present

On 28 October 2016, Hagan's debut album ''Straight To You'' was released. In a country music special edition of the long-running Irish chat show, '' The Late Late Late Show'', well-known Irish country singer

Philomena Begley Philomena Begley (born 20 October 1942) is a country music singer from Northern Ireland. In 1975, Begley had a hit with her version of the Billie Jo Spears' song Blanket on the Ground reaching higher sales then Spears in both the UK and Irelan ...

named Hagan as "one to watch" for the future of Irish country music. Hagan has supported the likes of

Nathan Carter Nathan Kane Tyrone Carter (born 28 May 1990) is a British-born Irish country music singer based in the UK and Ireland. He has released thirteen studio albums and six live albums as of December 2022, five of which peaked at number one, and fou ...

, Derek Ryan and

Mike Denver Michael Fallon (born 15 June 1980 in Portumna, County Galway) known as Mike Denver, is an Irish country singer. Career Starting touring at age 16, he later on met manager Willie Carty who signed him. Denver recorded his first album ''Wings to Fl ...

on tour across Ireland and Europe. In March 2018, while Ireland was suffering the effects of Storm Emma, Hagan performed two songs on '' The Late Late Late Show''. One month later, Hagan returned to the show for their annual country music special performing a duet of ' Hurts So Good' alongside

. On 22 June 2018, the album ''Secret Love'' was released. In September 2018, Hagan was named Best Irish Country Female Artist at the Irish Post Country Music Awards. In 2019, Hagan was announced as one of the celebrities taking part in the third series of ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series ''Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the form ...

.'' Hagan was partnered with professional dancer Robert Rowiński on the show. On 22 March 2019, they reached the final of the competition, finishing as joint runners-up with Johnny Ward and Emily Barker, with Mairéad Ronan and John Nolan becoming the eventual winners. On 29 November 2019, the album ''Little Darlin was released. A DVD named ''Travelling Shoes'', which was a video collection of Hagan's music videos and live performances, was also released on the same day. On 21 October 2021, Hagan released a new album; ''The Dolly Songbook''. The album was a tribute to

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...

, in which Hagan recorded twelve of her songs.

Personal life

Hagan was born in Ballinderry, County Tyrone. On 25 May 2022, she married musician Simon Sheerin in

County Westmeath "Noble above nobility" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Westmeath.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = , subdivis ...

. The wedding was later featured on an episode of the documentary ''From This Moment On,'' which premiered on

BBC One Northern Ireland BBC One Northern Ireland is a Northern Irish television channel based on the UK-wide BBC One, owned and operated by BBC Northern Ireland. The service is broadcast from Broadcasting House in Belfast. In the rest of the UK, BBC One Northern Irela ...

on 2 November.

References

External links

Official site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hagan, Cliona 1989 births Living people Musicians from County Tyrone 21st-century singers from Northern Ireland Country singers from Northern Ireland The All Ireland Talent Show contestants