DERMOT KENNEDY achieves his third consecutive Irish #1 album!

Dermot Kennedy tops the IRMA Official Albums Chart

Dermot Kennedy tops the IRMA Official Albums Chart this week as his third studio album The Weight of the Woods debuts at #1, marking his third consecutive Irish chart-topping record. The album was released on 4 April 2026 via Island Records alongside new single Turnstile. Kennedy has previously topped the Irish Charts with his 2019 debut Without Fear and 2022’s Sonder, both of which also topped the UK Charts.

Largely written and recorded in a studio close to his home on the Dublin-Kildare border, alongside sessions in Nashville, the album was made with close collaborator and producer Gabe Simon, whose previous credits include work with Noah Kahan and Lana Del Rey. Simon and the team spent the opening week and a half driving around the country collecting instruments from Galway and Cork. Concertina player Cormac Begley was brought in to contribute, while Muireann Ní Shé plays uilleann pipes on the record, and a bodhrán replaces a conventional drum on several tracks.

Three singles preceded the album’s release: Funeral, Refuge, and Honest. Funeral served as the lead single and was accompanied by an official music video starring Charlie Rowe and directed by Charlie Sarsfield. Kennedy performed the track on Other Voices ahead of release, with a special pop-up listening event at the Beyond the Trees installation in Avondale, where he was joined by a ten-piece choir from Maynooth University.