Tell people you’re going to meet Lyra and the reaction is warm, universally so. People know of her for all sorts of different reasons. “She was brilliant on that television show with Leo Varadkar. Really impressive,” says one person, referring to Lyra’s guest appearance on Uncharted with special forces veteran Ray Goggins, where she and Varadkar battled through the mountains of Drakenberg in South Africa. “Will you get a video of her?” wonders another, complimenting her fashion sense. “She’s doing the NFL performance, isn’t she?” says another, referring to Lyra’s rendition of Amhrán na bhFiann ahead of the NFL Dublin game at Croke Park in late September.

Lyra might have come to prominence for her music – her debut album went to No 1 in Ireland in 2024, pipping Beyoncé to the top spot and giving her the “Bandon Beyoncé” tag, but the Cork-born singer is what television producers call “relatable” in a way that stretches far beyond the world of the arts. Sweary, funny and candid, Lyra can’t help telling “juicy” or “cringe” stories from her life, any more than she can take the melody of Cork out of her earthy, robust accent. Perched today sipping tea in a private room of a five-star Dublin hotel, she grins at some superstar Elton John-style vibes she conjured up recently, when she and a few school pals went out for dinner in Bandon. Because the others were carrying cash, Lyra paid the bill on her credit card. “The girls were all breaking their holes laughing,” she says. “It’ll be all around Bandon, ‘Lyra is spoiling her friends for dinner!’ Everyone thinks I’m minted. I was like, ‘Give me that cash money’.”

She specialises in bursting bubbles even when she has been the one crafting them. Sure, she’s the siren you’ve seen stretched across a billboard, looking J Lo-level sexy to promote her eponymous album. She’s the artist with the bottomless lungs, belting out hits such as New Day and Falling, which made it on to Grey’s Anatomy and Love Island, in a sonorous, operatic style with hints of London Grammar by way of Lady Gaga. But don’t believe the music videos or the Instagram reels: “It’s smoke and mirrors,” she says.