Featuring White Horse Emerging Artist in Residence Muirġen with special guests & shortlisted Tom O'Donovan, Rebecca Ruane and Kendal Moody.

The White Horse ran it's inaugural Emerging Artist in Residence program in early 2026, seeking original artist applicants to fulfill a residency deisgned to develop live performance.

What followed was a near overwhelming level of applications in terms of volume and quality, so much so that the judging panel agonised over selection, evenutally whittling the cohort to a shortlist of outstanding promise.

Muirġen emerged as our Artist in Residence for 2026 but such was the peer competiton the judging panel decided that the shortlist should get a chance to showcase and give the public a sense of the depth of talent.

Our Emerging Artist Spotlight will now give our Emerging Artist in Residence and our shortlist a chance to showcase on the White Horse stage. Don't miss this chance to see these 4 great original artists in full flight!

Muirġen is The White Horse Emerging Artist in Residence 2026 and an Irish-fusion artist whose music blends elements of Irish tradition and electropop into a sound that feels both fresh and deeply personal. Born and raised in Cork, Muirġen has lived in many different music worlds over the past 10 years. Originally trained as a classical singer, she then went on to perform as an actor/singer in the UK before joining Grammy nominated vocal group, Celtic Woman.

Muirġen's colourful music background has shaped a sonic identity defined now by melismatic vocal lines, textured harmonies and a truthfulness rooted in an inherently Irish-folk style.On her debut EP, 'Loinnir', she composes windows of self discovery with a longing for reconnection to Ireland through atmospheric production, bilingual story telling and stacked vocal lines that transports the listener to a different world.

There’s a quiet electricity surrounding Kendal Moody. The Wicklow native has been transfixing audiences across Ireland over the last two years. Her music incorporates a blend of Americana, Folk and Indie-Rock: an emotional blend of finger-style guitar and story-driven songs. Kendal gained a BA in Popular Music from the Cork School of Music in 2026. It was here her love for song writing and performance truly bloomed.

Kendal’s influences include artists like Stevie Nicks, Aimee Mann, Laura Marling and Eva Cassidy. Her songwriting owes its early inspiration to Taylor Swift’s use of lyric storytelling.

Kendal has spent some time in Nashville and gigged with U.S. musicians such as Tyler Booth and American Idol’s Isaac Cole.

Her latest single ‘Homegrown Prayer’ is available to stream on Spotify and YouTube Music.

Rebecca Ruane

Description supplied by the event organiser.