Athenry Country singer Claudia Buckley is helping to nurture a new wave of emerging talent on the latest series of TG4’s Glór Tire which began this week.

Claudia, winner of Hottest Act in Irish Country Music at the Hot Country Awards 2022, is one of the mentors on the long-running series and will feature next Tuesday, March 19, at 9.30pm, performing her own songs, as well as duetting with Donegal’s Jason McCahill and Fermanagh’s Karl Kirkpatrick.

Jason and Karl are two of the eight contestants battling it out for the title of Ireland’s Glór Tíre Country Music Champion 2024.  Claudia is mentoring both of them.

She was born into Country music, with her father Jimmy Buckley being one of Ireland’s most popular and respected performers. Over the years, he has mentored and supported many up-and-coming acts, including Karl.

“Jimmy has been a fan of mine for as long as I can remember,” says the Fermanagh farmer. “He’s been a great support.”

Karl will duet with Claudia on the Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner number, Forty Miles From Poplar Bluff, a song also covered by Jimmy. The young singer is delighted to be performing with the Athenry woman and to be guided by her through Glór Tíre.

“I couldn’t have picked a better mentor,” he says.

Jason McCahill feels the same.

“It’s a bit surreal,” says the 26-year-old. “I was flicking back through my phone and there’s a picture of me and Jimmy Buckley when I was 14 or 15. To come full circle now, doing a duet with and being mentored by Claudia is massive.”

Jason and Claudia’s duet will be Love Me Tonight, originally a hit for Don Williams in 1975.

“Jimmy Buckley is still my biggest inspiration, and Claudia is the same,” says Jason of their influence. “If you went up to either of them and said, ‘I need a bit of help’, they would straightaway say, ‘What do you need?’.”

Apart from Glór Tíre, Claudia is having a busy 2024, having played several high-profile shows around the country. Last month she released her new single, Driving Me Out Of My Mind.

Glór Tíre, with Jason McCahill, Karl Kirkpatrick and their mentor will be broadcast next Tuesday night at 9.30pm on TG4. The judges will be RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta’s Jó Ní Chéide and Caitríona Ní Shuilleabháin, with guest judge, Trudi Lalor.

Pictured: Claudia Buckley who is a mentor on the series and will be singing on Tuesday night’s programme.