In just one week they notched up nearly 10,000 YouTube hits, broke into the top 50 of the Irish iTunes charts, attracted fans from as far away as Kathmandu, Boston, and France — and now they’re set to perform in Cork Opera House.

A moving new song, which celebrates the beauty of a West Cork town at Christmas time and expresses the sense of loss felt by local people forced to emigrate, is to be launched this week.