List of Irish Singles Chart Christmas number ones

In Ireland, Christmas number ones are singles that are top of the Irish Singles Chart in the week in which Christmas Day falls.

The Irish Singles Chart was first published in 1962, and the first artist to top the chart at Christmas was Elvis Presley with "Return to Sender". The following year, Brendan Bowyer became the first Irish artist to claim top spot at Christmas with "No More". 2020 winner Dermot Kennedy ("Giants") is the first Irish national to achieve the feat since Mario Rosenstock in 2005.

The supergroup Band Aid, created by Irishman Bob Geldof, is the only act to have been number one at Christmas three times, each time with "Do They Know It's Christmas?". Four more acts have held top spot twice: The Beatles, Queen (both times with "Bohemian Rhapsody"), the Spice Girls and Eminem. Many acts that have topped the Irish Singles Chart at Christmas have also topped the UK Singles Chart at the same time.

From 2006 to 2013, every winner of the Irish Christmas number one came from the winning contestant of that year's series of the British reality contest The X Factor. Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars broke this streak in 2014 with their single "Uptown Funk".[1][2] Irish bands such as The Rubberbandits ("Horse Outside" in 2010)[3] and The Saw Doctors ("Downtown" in 2011)[4] have contested for the honor during this time frame, but both fell well short.

List

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Irishman Bob Geldof was creator of supergroup Band Aid, who held the number one spot at Christmas in three different incarnations.
 
The Spice Girls held the number one spot at Christmas twice in the late 1990s.
 
Eminem had two Christmas number ones in the early 2000s.
 
The X Factor (creator and judge Simon Cowell pictured) launched eight consecutive Irish Christmas number ones.
 
Dermot Kennedy, who held Number One in 2020, was the first Irishman to score Christmas number one since Mario Rosenstock in 2005.
Year Artist Song
1962 Elvis Presley "Return to Sender"
1963 Brendan Bowyer "No More"
1964 The Beatles "I Feel Fine"
1965 The Beatles "Day Tripper" / "We Can Work It Out"
1966 Tom Jones "Green, Green Grass of Home"
1967 Pat Lynch "Treat My Daughter Kindly"
1968 The Scaffold "Lily The Pink"
1969 The Archies "Sugar, Sugar"
1970 Dave Edmunds "I Hear You Knocking"
1971 Tommy Drennan "O Holy Night"
1972 Thin Lizzy "Whiskey in the Jar"
1973 Slade "Merry Christmas Everybody"
1974 Gary Glitter "Oh Yes! You're Beautiful"
1975 Queen "Bohemian Rhapsody"
1976 Chicago "If You Leave Me Now"
1977 Wings "Mull of Kintyre"
1978 Boney M "Mary's Boy Child - Oh My Lord"
1979 Pink Floyd "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)"
1980 St Winifred's School Choir "There's No-one Quite Like Grandma"
1981 ABBA "One of Us"
1982 Renee and Renato "Save Your Love"
1983 Flying Pickets "Only You"
1984 Band Aid "Do They Know It's Christmas?"
1985 Dermot Morgan "Thank You Very Much Mr. Eastwood"
1986 The Housemartins "Caravan of Love"
1987 The Pogues ft. Kirsty MacColl "Fairytale of New York"
1988 Cliff Richard "Mistletoe and Wine"
1989 Band Aid "Do They Know It's Christmas?"
1990 Zig and Zag "The Christmas No.1"
1991 Queen "Bohemian Rhapsody" / "These Are the Days of Our Lives"
1992 Whitney Houston "I Will Always Love You"
1993 Take That "Babe"
1994 East 17 "Stay Another Day"
1995 Boyzone "Father and Son"
1996 Spice Girls "2 Become 1"
1997 Various Artists "Perfect Day"
1998 Spice Girls "Goodbye"
1999 Westlife "I Have a Dream"
2000 Eminem "Stan"
2001 Kate Winslet "What If"
2002 Eminem "Lose Yourself"
2003 Will Young "Leave Right Now"
2004 Band Aid 20 "Do They Know It's Christmas?"
2005 Mario Rosenstock "Gift Grub/Leave Right Now"
2006 Leona Lewis "A Moment Like This"
2007 Leon Jackson "When You Believe"
2008 Alexandra Burke "Hallelujah"
2009 Joe McElderry "The Climb"
2010 Matt Cardle "When We Collide"
2011 Little Mix "Cannonball"
2012 James Arthur "Impossible"
2013 Sam Bailey "Skyscraper"
2014 Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars "Uptown Funk"
2015 Justin Bieber "Love Yourself"
2016 Clean Bandit ft. Sean Paul and Anne-Marie "Rockabye"
2017 Ed Sheeran "Perfect"
2018 Ava Max "Sweet but Psycho"[5]
2019 Lewis Capaldi "Before You Go"[6]
2020 Dermot Kennedy "Giants"[7]
2021 Ed Sheeran and Elton John "Merry Christmas"[8]
2022 Raye ft. 070 Shake "Escapism"
2023 Noah Kahan "Stick Season"

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Cannon, Eoghan. "People of Ireland, we haven't had a "Christmas" number one since 2004". RTE.ie. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
  2. ^ White, Jack (6 December 2018). "Every Christmas Number 1 on the Official Irish Singles Char". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
  3. ^ Muldoon, Molly (2010-12-25). The Rubberbandits lose out on Christmas number one to X factor winner. Irish Central. Retrieved 2010-12-25.
  4. ^ Sligo bay (21 December 2011). "Cannonball hits Saw Docs' No 1 hope – Music, Entertainment". Independent.ie. Retrieved 2012-01-05.
  5. ^ White, Jack (21 December 2018). "Ava Max dethrones Ariana Grande to claim Ireland's Christmas Number 1 single". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
  6. ^ White, Jack (22 December 2019). "Before You Go by Lewis Capaldi makes it four weeks at the top to claim Ireland's Xmas Number 1 single". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
  7. ^ Dermot Kennedy claims Ireland's Christmas number 1 single and album with Giants and Without Fear. Official Charts Company. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  8. ^ Ed Sheeran and Elton John claims Ireland's Christmas number 1 single. official charts company. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
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