The 50 best Irish music videos of all-time

The music video for ‘Punches’ is full of the same sort of subtle beauty as the tack it accompanies. With its black and gold colour palette, the video for ‘Punches’ is as earthy and soothing as Francis’ vocal delivery. It was mentioned by Kanye West online back in the day and that honour perhaps wouldn’t be as desired as much these days with Yeezus’ pro-Trump tweets.

Directed by Dave Tynan (Just Sayin’) and based on Dave Rudden’s short story Bleached this video features a man played by Stephen Jones who drops a tab courtesy of his mate before going to a job interview.

As iconic as they come, the video for The Pogues’ ‘Fairy Tale Of New York’ is etched into the collective consciousness of an entire nation, as well as plenty more from outside of it.

A quintessentially 90s video, dodgy green screens and all. ‘Ce La Vie’ may be on your top 5 cheesiest songs list but it’s an undeniably iconic video. There’s more denim in this video than a Levi’s factory. Also, check out those moves during the trad breakdown. ‘C’est La Vie’ is totally Irish.

The video for ‘2025’ by Squarehead is a powerful statement on the bond shared between siblings and the innocence of childhood. Starring both the Gleeson brothers, this video was originally released as part of a fundraiser for St. Francis’ Hospice, so good vibes all round then. In the video, Domhnall and Brian Gleeson re-enact their brotherly antics as captured in home videos from years previous.

Another classic 90s video, ‘Even Better Than The Real Thing’ is not for those prone to motion sickness. Released as part of the ‘Achtung Baby’ album, the video features U2 clad in all the leather you could ever want. Full of homages to the musical greats before them, including The Beatles and The Sex Pistols, this high budget shoot is iconic for its then groundbreaking camera work.

Long before the good people at Warner Bros. thought of putting Lego on the big screen, Fight Like Apes were using the little yellow figurines to explore toxic masculinity. It may be something most audiences have seen since at this stage, but back in 2010 this was a novel concept for a music video. It was also quite a lo-fi one, if time-consuming.

An ecclesiastical take on a theme. The relationship between a person and their god is one of submission and it’s an idea that’s tackled in this simple yet effective video featuring Aron Hegarty shot at St Peter’s, Church of Ireland Drumconrath, Co. Meath. It was inspired by Mary Magdelene and ideas of devotion.

Dolores O’ Riordan and co. managed to capture the frustration and despair of the nation toward sectarian violence in the North with the video for ‘Zombie’. Coming out a full five years before the Good Friday agreement, this video captures the grim reality of one of Ireland’s darkest chapters.

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