Retro Irish Chart: For 61 years, very few carols have been number one at Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone Slade (1973)

Mary’s Boy Child/Oh my Lord Boney M (1978)

Do they know it’s Christmas Band Aid (1984, 1989, 2004)

Adventures about New York The Pogues ft. Kirsty MacColl (1987)

Mistletoe and wine Cliff Richard (1988)

Christmas no. 1 Zig and Zag (1990)

Merry Christmas Ed Sheeran and Elton John (2021)

They may be impossible to avoid at this time of year, but Christmas carols don’t dominate the charts as much as you might think.

In the 61 years of the Irish singles chart, only eight genuine Christmas songs have reached number one. Mariah Carey’s classic “All I Want For Christmas Is You” is not among them, nor is Wham’s “Last Christmas” or Bing’s “White Christmas”, the best-selling festive favorite of all time.

Tommy Drennan, the Limerick showband legend who died earlier this year, had the honor of taking the first Christmas carol to the top of the charts in 1971. His version of “O Holy Night” was unusual for the time as it mixed a recording him as an 11-year-old boy soprano with a modern version sung with his band, The Monarchs.

There are no prizes for choosing the most successful of Ireland’s Christmas Number Ones. Supergroup Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” has hit the top on three separate occasions – the original in 1984, Band Aid II’s version for Ethiopia in 1989 and the Band Aid 20th anniversary version in 2004.

Fortunately, the Pogues and Kirsty MacColl’s “Fairytale Of New York” is among the Irish Christmas elite, having reached number one here on release in 1987.

Unfortunately, it did not top the charts in the UK, famously being denied the Christmas No. 1 of the Pet Shop Boys’ version of “Always On My Mind”.

Shane MacGowan reportedly said afterwards: “We were beaten by two queens and a drum machine”.

Most of Ireland’s ‘Christmassy’ Christmas number 1s landed in the seventies and eighties. After Zig and Zag’s novelty hit in 1990, the festive chart has only had a Christmas theme on two occasions: Band Aid in 2004 and the pairing of Ed Sheeran and Elton John in 2021.

Of course, many will argue that we have made some notable omissions here. East 17’s 1994 Christmas chart hit “Stay Another Day” is often considered a Christmas carol, although the only festive connection is the addition of some bells and the video of the band in their fur-trimmed white parkas. In fact, the song has a very sad theme, having been written by East 17’s Tony Mortimer about the suicide of his brother Ollie.

It could also be argued that the spirit of Christmas is evoked in two acapella number ones: the Flying Pickets’ version of Yazoo’s “Only You” in 1983 and The Housemartins’ “Caravan Of Love” in 1986. Either would have reached number one at any time . other time of year?

Similarly, it’s hard to imagine that Paul McCarthy’s 1977 “Mull Of Kintyre” would have risen so high without a Christmas market boost. Number one in Ireland for ten consecutive weeks, it is one of the best-selling singles of all time in the UK.