Every homegrown female Number 1 on the Official Irish Albums Chart

We look back the Irish women who topped the charts previously.

Dating back to when modern chart history began in January 1997, 21 albums from 11 female artists or female-fronted bands have reached Number 1 on the Official Irish Albums Chart.

With global talents like Ed Sheeran and Adele alone spending over 100 weeks at Number 1 in Ireland over the years, having an average of around one Irish female topping the charts each year isn't bad going. And while there can always be more, any representation is a cause for celebration, which is what we're doing today.

The most recent occurrence in April 2021 saw Imelda May become the Irish female solo artist to claim a Number 1 album in almost five years with her sixth record 11 Past The Hour. The record is Imelda's fourth chart-topper on home turf following her three rockabilly albums Love Tattoo in 2009, Mayhem the following the year, and Tribal in 2014.

MORE: Acts with the most Number 1 albums this millennium on the Official Irish Albums Chart

With six Number 1s under their belts, The Corrs have topped the charts the most among female-fronted acts. Two of Andrea, Caroline and Sharon (and Jim!)'s LPs Talk On Corners and In Blue also claim the joint-most weeks at the top of the Official Irish Albums Chart for an Irish female act, alongside folk legend Mary Black's 25 Years - 25 Songs - those albums all managed four weeks at Number 1.

Mary Black retrospectives The Best Of: 1991-2001 and 25 Years - 25 Songs both hit the helm of the Top 50, while Lisa Hannigan has a pair of chart toppers to her name: 2011's Passenger and 2016's At Swim.

MORE: The female solo artists with the most Number 1 albums this millennium in Ireland

X Factor's Mary Byrne claimed the fastest-selling debut album of the 2010s with her album Mine & Yours, a Number 1 in 2011, while women who have topped the charts as part of female-fronted include Faye O'Rourke of Little Green Cars (now part of Soda Blonde), Ham Sandwich's Niamh Farrell and Sorcha Durham of Walking on Cars.

With so much female talent gaining momentum at the moment, we reckon it's not long before female groups like Wyvern Lingo and Pillow Queens and soloists such as Orla Gartland and CMAT take their place on this list.

Every Number 1 on the Official Irish Albums Chart by a female act

ALBUM	ARTIST	YEAR	WEEKS AT #1
TALK ON CORNERS	THE CORRS	1997	4
UNPLUGGED	THE CORRS	1999	3
IN BLUE	THE CORRS	2000	4
THE BEST OF THE CORRS	THE CORRS	2001	1
THE BEST OF MARY BLACK 1991-2001	MARY BLACK	2001	2
BORROWED HEAVEN	THE CORRS	2004	1
HOME	THE CORRS	2005	1
25 YEARS - 25 SONGS	MARY BLACK	2008	4
THE GALWAY GIRL: THE BEST OF	SHARON SHANNON	2008	2
LOVE TATTOO	IMELDA MAY	2009	2
THE NAMELESS	CATHY DAVEY	2010	1
MAYHEM	IMELDA MAY	2010	1
MINE & YOURS	MARY BYRNE	2011	2
PASSENGER	LISA HANNIGAN	2011	1
ABSOLUTE ZERO	LITTLE GREEN CARS	2013	1
TRIBAL	IMELDA MAY	2014	2
I'M NOT BOSSY, I'M THE BOSS	SINEAD O'CONNOR	2014	1
STORIES FROM THE SURFACE	HAM SANDWICH	2015	1
EVERYTHING THIS WAY	WALKING ON CARS	2016	3
AT SWIM	LISA HANNIGAN	2016	1
11 PAST THE HOUR	IMELDA MAY	2021	1