Ireland is the most successful nation at the Eurovision Song Contest, with seven wins, a record unbeaten. They made their debut in 1965 and have since made 53 appearances only missing out on the contest twice, in 1983 and 2002.
We have previously looked at ‘All the Irish Eurovision entries that have charted on the Irish Singles Chart’ with 47 out of their 54 Eurovision entries charting on the Irish national singles chart.
Today, we explore all the Eurovision winning songs that have charted on the Irish singles chart.
Out of all the 67 Eurovision winning songs, 36 songs have made an appearance on the Irish Singles Chart, with one entry featured twice!
The Irish love Eurovision, especially their own winning entries! All seven of their Eurovision winning songs rank inside the top 20 in our list. Five of their winning songs reached No. 1 on the Irish charts. An impressive 14 Eurovision winning songs have reached the top of the charts.
In this list we have ranked all the charting singles in order of their peak positions, then number of weeks at their peak, then number of weeks on the chart, using Ireland's official Singles Charts archives, which you can find here.
Over the years, the Irish Singles Chart has been complied as follows:
pre-1992: compiled from record company ship-out statistics
1992 to 1996: Gallup-compiled charts based on consumer sales
1996 to present day: Chart-Track was formed as a result of a management buy-out from Gallup supported by the Irish Recorded Music Association
We have included video links to a few Eurovision entries with interesting facts along with the Top 5 in this list.
Let’s begin!
37. Netta - 'Toy' - Israel - 2018 - No.63
36. Ruslana - 'Wild Dances' - Ukraine - 2004 - No.44
35. Ell and Nikki - 'Running Scared' - Azerbaijan - 2011 - No.41
34. Sertab Erener - 'Everyway That I Can' - Turkey - 2003 - No.35
33. Duncan Laurence - 'Arcade' - Netherlands - 2019 - No.30
32. Herreys - 'Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley' - Sweden - 1984 - No.13 - 3 weeks on chart
31. Conchita Wurst - 'Rise Like a Phoenix' - Austria - 2014 - No.10 - 1 week on chart
30. Måns Zelmerlöw - 'Heroes' - Sweden - 2015 - No.10 - 2 weeks on chart
29. Dana International - 'Diva' - Israel - 1998 - No.10 - 5 weeks on chart
=27. Teach-In - 'Ding-a-dong' - Netherlands - 1975 - No.8 - 4 weeks on chart
=27. Bobbysocks! - 'La det swinge' - Norway - 1985 - No.8 - 4 weeks on chart
English version ‘Let It Swing’ charted in Ireland
26. Secret Garden - 'Nocturne' - Norway - 1995 - No.7 - 5 weeks on chart
25. Emmelie de Forest - 'Only Teardrops' - Denmark - 2013 - No.5 - 1 week on chart
24. Katrina and the Waves - 'Love Shine a Light' - United Kingdom - 1997 - No.5 - 8 weeks on chart
Katrina and the Waves had two other charting hits in Ireland. ‘Sun Street’ which peaked at No. 19 and ‘Walking on Sunshine’ which just missed out on the top spot leaking at No. 2 in 1985.
23. Lordi - 'Hard Rock Hallelujah' - Finland - 2006 - No.4 - 7 weeks on chart
22. Vicky Leandros - 'Après toi' - Luxembourg - 1972 - No.3 - 2 weeks on chart
This isn’t Vicky only appearance in our ranking of Eurovision winning songs in Ireland, the English version of the song charted higher making it inside the top 20 in our list. Vicky also charted at No.6 in 1973 with the song ‘The Love In Your Eyes’.
21. Anne-Marie David - 'Tu te reconnaîtras' - Luxembourg - 1973 - No.3 - 6 weeks on chart
20. Séverine - 'Un banc, un arbre, une rue' - Monaco - 1971 - No.3 - 7 weeks on chart
19. Eimear Quinn - 'The Voice' - Ireland - 1996 - No.3 - 10 weeks on chart
Even though ‘The Voice’ makes the top 20 in our list Ireland's most recent Eurovision winning song comes in at last place out of the Irish entries. It is also one of two Irish entries to not make it to the top spot.
18. Alexander Rybak - 'Fairytale' - Norway - 2009 - No.2 - 2 weeks on chart
17. Lena - 'Satellite' - Germany - 2010 - No.2 - 3 weeks on chart
16. Vicky Leandros - 'Come What May' - Luxembourg - 1972 - No.2 - 9 weeks on chart
15. Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan - 'Rock 'n' Roll Kids' - Ireland - 1994 - No.2 - 14 weeks on chart
14. Milk and Honey - 'Hallelujah' - Israel - 1979 - No.1 - 1 week at peak - 6 weeks on chart
13. Linda Martin - 'Why Me' - Ireland - 1992 - No.1 - 1 week at peak - 10 weeks on chart
Before Linda Martin took to the Eurovision stage, she had been part of the group Chips, which had four Top 20 hits, including the 1977 single ‘Goodbye Goodbye’ which got to No. 2 on the Irish Singles Chart. Her debut solo single, released one year before she went to Eurovision in 1984 and called ‘Edge of the Universe’, made it into the Top 20. She would go on to achieve a further five Top 20 solo hits, including her Eurovision-winning song ‘Why Me?’.
12. Brotherhood of Man - 'Save Your Kisses for Me' - United Kingdom - 1976 - No.1 - 1 week at peak - 11 weeks on chart
11. ABBA - 'Waterloo' - Sweden - 1974 - No.1 - 2 weeks at peak - 9 weeks on chart
=9. Lulu - 'Boom Bang-a-Bang' - United Kingdom - 1969 - No.1 - 2 weeks at peak - 10 weeks on chart
=9. Bucks Fizz - 'Making Your Mind Up' - United Kingdom - 1981 - No.1 - 2 weeks at peak - 10 weeks on chart
8. Loreen - 'Euphoria' - Sweden - 2012 - No.1 - 2 weeks at peak - 12 weeks on chart
7. Olsen Brothers - 'Fly on the Wings of Love' - Denmark - 2000 - No.1 - 2 weeks at peak - 21 weeks on chart
6. Sandie Shaw - 'Puppet on a String' - United Kingdom - 1967 - No.1 - 3 weeks at peak - 12 weeks on chart
Out of Sandie Shaw’s seven hits to chart in Ireland, two peaked at No. 1. Her Eurovision entry 'Puppet on a String’ and ‘Long Live Love’ which reached the top summit two years prior.
5. Johnny Logan - 'Hold Me Now' - Ireland - 1987 - No.1 - 4 weeks at peak - 14 weeks on chart
Australian-born Irish singer Johnny Logan managed to top the Irish Singles Chart yet again, after his first Eurovision-winning song ('What's Another Year') reached No. 1 in 1980. Here in Australia, ‘Hold Me Now’ reached No. 4 on the singles chart and remained in the Top 100 chart for a whopping 35 weeks. The single also reached No. 1 in other Eurovision-competing countries, including Belgium and Israel, and peaked at No. 2 in Norway, Sweden, West Germany and the United Kingdom.
4. Nicole - 'Ein bißchen Frieden' - Germany - 1982 - No.1 - 5 weeks at peak - 11 weeks on chart
Nicole’s follow up single to her charting Eurovision entry, ‘Give Me More Time’, also charted on the Irish singles chart. It peaked at No. 23 and only remained on the chart for a single week.
3. Niamh Kavanagh - 'In Your Eyes' - Ireland - 1993 - No.1 - 5 weeks at peak - 15 weeks on chart
Interestingly, after winning the Irish national final, Niamh Kavanagh struggled to find a record company prepared to release her winning song. After she won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1993, she met Simon Cowell, who had attended the Contest with the UK delegation, and signed up with Arista Records. 'In Your Eyes’ went on to spend five weeks at No. 1 and became the best-selling single in Ireland in that year.
Niamh Kavanagh returned to Eurovision representing Ireland 17 years after her Eurovision win. Her entry in 2010 ‘It’s For You’ peaked at No. 8 on the Irish charts.
2. Johnny Logan - 'What's Another Year' - Ireland - 1980 - No.1 - 6 weeks at peak - 10 weeks on chart
Johnny Logan has eleven hits that made an appearance on the Irish charts. His most successful hits are both of his two Eurovision winning entries.
'What's Another Year’ remained at No. 1 for six weeks in Ireland. Interestingly, for 34 weeks in 1980, the Irish Singles Chart was not complied by record companies due to strike action. As an alternative, the magazine Hot Press magazine published fortnightly charts, which are used by Ireland's official Singles Charts archives website as official statistics. During that strike period, other songs charting at No. 1 in Ireland included ‘Xanadu’ by Olivia Newton-John, ‘The Winner Takes It All’ by ABBA and the ‘Theme from MASH’.
1. Dana - 'All Kinds of Everything' - Ireland - 1970 - No.1 - 9 weeks at peak - 17 weeks on chart
'All Kinds of Everything’ is Ireland’s best-performing Eurovision entry on the Irish Singles Chart. Ireland's first Eurovision winner also reached No. 1 in the UK and Belgium and entered the Top 10 in a further six countries. In Australia, Dana’s hit peaked at No. 37.
'All Kinds of Everything’ is one out of two No. 1 hits by Dana on the Irish charts. Nine years later Dana reached number one with ‘Totus Tuus’.
Why not check out our previous articles on charting Eurovision songs here: