‘Hands down best Ireland’s Call rendition ever’ – Eight-year-old lad nails Six Nations anthem

Jared Wright
Eight-year-old Stevie Mulrooney performing Ireland's Call ahead of the Six Nations clash between Ireland and Italy at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

Eight-year-old Stevie Mulrooney performing Ireland's Call ahead of the Six Nations clash between Ireland and Italy at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

Stevie Mulrooney went viral on Sunday ahead of the Six Nations clash between Ireland and Italy at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

After limping through the pre-match formalities of Michael D. Higgins being escorted by the two captains and introduced to the two sets of players, we finally got to the highly-anticipated anthems.

First up, was a cracking rendition of the Italian national anthem ‘Il Canto degli Italiani’ by Jennifer Dalton, from the gospel choir ‘Anthem Singers’. She then brilliant sung ‘Amhran na bhFiann’.

Stevie Mulrooney

While Dalton was excellent, she was outshone by eight-year-old Mulrooney, who stepped up and delivered a memorable rendition of Ireland‘s Call.

Mulrooney is from the Kennyswell Road in Kilkenny and initially caught the eye last November when he gave a rousing rendition of Ireland’s Call on the Late Late show.

That rendition led to viewers calling for him to perform ahead of an Ireland Test match, which has now happened.

Ireland star Josh van der Flier called Stevie to invite him to perform before the Six Nations, and the young lad showed no signs of nerves, delivering a superb performance in front of 50,000 fans in the stadium and countless more on television.

Was George Ford’s denied conversion during England v Wales the correct call?

“This kid is unreal wtf, Ireland’s Call never sounded so good,” one fan wrote on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

@HarpinOnRugby added: “Hands down best Ireland’s Call rendition ever.”

Meanwhile, Telegraph journalist Ben Coles already picked out his man of the match after the anthems.

“Player of the match – the young lad singing the anthem,” his post read.

Another fan added: “Stevie Mulrooney, what an absolute star, a belter of a performance that. Chills.”

Another joked: “What a rendition of Ireland’s Call by Stevie Mulrooney. When I was 7 years old I was still eating Lego, let alone singing my country’s anthem in front of 52,000 people.”

During the 2023 Rugby World Cup, young kids sang the national anthems of the teams, a move that did not go down well in the end.

“Message to the French on how it’s actually done. Very well done and loved the “come on Ireland” at the end,” one fan added after Mulrooney’s rendition.

READ MORE: WATCH: Trailer for highly-anticipated Springboks’ World Cup documentary ‘Chasing The Sun 2’ released

International