Hilltown’s Jordan McPolin reaches Grand Final of leading Country Music show, Glór Tíre
• It’s an absolute dream come true to get to the Grand Final ’ says Jordan McPolin
County Down Country singer Jordan McPolin has his sights set on possibly the biggest prize in Country Music on the island of Ireland – the Glór Tíre Champion 2026.
The 20-year-old from Hilltown last night (Tuesday 3 March) delivered an impressive performance at the Glór Tíre Semi-Final, which was broadcast live on Irish language station TG4.
Jordan’s performance of Derek Ryan’s ‘Made of Gold’ and the standard, ‘Catfish John’, which has been covered by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and The Grateful Dead’s Gerry Garcia, saw him win a substantial number of public votes and a place in next week’s Grand Final.
Jordan said: “I don’t think it’s even kicked in that I’ve reached the Final. I didn’t even expect to come this far. I’ve always watched Glór Tíre through the years, so to be on it was a dream come true to begin with, but to get into the Grand Final is an absolute dream come true.”
Jordan describes the support he has received from the people of County Down as “unbelievable, phenomenal”.
He added: “Every time I go into a shop, people say, ‘Oh, congratulations’ or ‘I’ve seen you on the TV’,” he says. “My outfits for Glór Tíre have been sponsored by Louis Boyd’s Menswear in Newry.
“For them to actually want to sponsor me is amazing. People are messaging me, phoning me. When I play gigs now, people say to me, ‘After seeing you on the TV, we said we’d come down to watch you playing.’ It’s so good to see so many people having such a good reaction to something I’m on.”
The Glór Tíre Grand Final is on TG4 on Tuesday 10th March at 9.30pm, with Jordan competing against Kerry’s Paudie Coffey and Tipperary’s Dee Morrissey. Jordan reaching the final represents a ‘three-in-a-row’ for Northern Irish Country singers on the show.
Following in the footsteps of 2025 Winner Paddy Treacy from Fermanagh and 2025 Finalists John Mullan (Derry) and Conor Ownes (Fermanagh), and 2024 Finalist Karl Kirkpatrick (Fermanagh), Jordan is aware of not just representing County Down, but also Northern Ireland, on what is considered the premier Country Music TV show on the island of Ireland.
“People are saying that I’m representing the North on Glór Tíre this year,” he says. “Hopefully, I can make the North proud and bring the title home.
“It’s amazing to be picked to represent the North of Ireland, but it’s also amazing to see on Glór Tíre people from so many different parts of the country all coming together for one show.”
No matter what happens next Tuesday, Jordan’s Country career has already taken a major step forward just from being on Glór Tíre.
“The phone is on fire at the minute from people booking me,” he says. “At my gigs now, it’s a new and bigger audience. I’m getting bookings to play bigger venues and getting into bigger dance halls.
“The fact of actually getting on national TV is unbelievable. The whole experience has been unbelievable.”
The Glór Tíre Grand-Final will be presented by Aoife Ní Thuairisg. Resident judges Jó Ní Chéide and Caitriona Ní Shuilleabháin will be joined by guest judge, Eddie Rowley of the Sunday World.
