Destination Lisbon (#39): Meet Ryan O’Shaughnessy from Ireland
24 April 2018 at 10:30 CEST
Ryan O'Shaughnessy represents Ireland at the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest
Brigita Stankaitytė, RTÉ 2018.
In the 39th part of 'Destination Lisbon', our feature counting down to the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest, we get to know Ryan O’Shaughnessy who will represent Ireland with the song 'Together'.
In the end of January, Irish broadcaster RTÉ announced that Ryan O'Shaughnessy will represent the country at the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon. Read more..
Ryan O’Shaughnessy was born in 1992 into a musical family, and became a student of Billy Barrie at the age of four. When he was eight years old an opportunity arose for Ryan to play the character Mark Halpin in RTÉ’s Fair City, a role he played for almost a decade. He matured as Damien Halpin’s younger brother and spent his teen years on the Irish screens. By the age of 17, music had become a priority for the North County Dublin native, and he left Fair City to pursue a career in music.
In 2012, while studying songwriting at college in Dublin, Ryan penned his first collection of songs. It was a busy year for him as he also appeared on the finals of both The Voice of Ireland and Britain’s Got Talent. In his opening audition on Britain’s Got Talent, Ryan performed his now well known, self-penned song No Name which has had over 45 million hits on YouTube. Ryan was signed to Sony UK and released an EP which reached #1 in Ireland and #9 in the UK charts. During this time Ryan toured the length and breadth of Ireland and the United Kingdom.
In 2013, Ryan took part in RTÉ's new Irish songwriting competition The Hit, competing against (and beating) his former Voice of Ireland coach and 2006 Eurovision finalist Brian Kennedy. Being placed on the global songwriting map at a young age, Ryan has had the pleasure of writing and working with some of the world’s greatest musicians and songwriters.
In the last three years O’Shaughnessy has toured the USA and Canada. His love for songwriting and producing has seen him release music for himself and other artists through his recording label and studio Bayview. Ryan plays guitar, piano and saxophone.
O’Shaughnessy performed at the preparties in London and Israel as well as during the 10th edition of Eurovision in Concert:
Let's get social!
You can follow Ryan O’Shaughnessy on the following social media platforms:
