A music video filmed by students and staff at Finn Valley College in Stranorlar, Co Donegal is one of the winners of an international competition launched by British popstar Ed Sheeran.
Sheeran - who has considerable Irish roots - recently announced that he would be selecting 14 fan-created videos to accompany his newest album "Autumn Variations."
The Irish school's winning music video for Sheeran's song "Magical" was selected from more than 4,000 entries in over 75 countries.
The music video, which was released today, November 28, has racked up nearly 35k views in less than eight hours.
Magical - created by @FinnValleyColl 🇮🇪
Watch on YouTube: https://t.co/dnTFvYd0O4#AutumnVariations pic.twitter.com/p2b8eH6Oci
— Ed Sheeran HQ (@edsheeran) November 28, 2023
Finn Valley College said on Tuesday that record label Warner Brothers Music got in touch after staff member Edel Temple submitted the application “there and then” when she saw the call-out on Instagram.
“Magical" was shot in Finn Valley College after the school's Transition Year students devised the concept - a school love story with a Romeo and Juliet twist - with teacher Martina Garry.
The school said its annual variety show - a mix of love, literature, and drama in a school setting - seemed "universally relatable and complimented the beautiful lyrics and melody of this timeless ballad.”
The school said the music video “has been a wonderful opportunity for our students to showcase their talents.
“Our school won a competition to have the video produced in our school and it was our pitch that secured the rights to the video."
In a special video message to Finn Valley College, Sheeran said: "Thank you so much for working so hard on the 'Magical' video. I loved watching it.
"I hope you guys are doing good in Donegal and I'll see you soon.
"But thank you, again, it's wonderful."
You can watch Finn Valley College's winning fan-created music video for Ed Sheeran's "Magical" here:
Sheeran - whose granny was from Co Wexford - frequently infuses his Irish roots into his award-winning music.
In 2015, he recorded an Irish language version of his hit song "Thinking Out Loud."
Two years later, his Grammy Award-winning album "÷" ("divide") featured the song "Nancy Mulligan," inspired by his Irish granny, as well as a new take on the classic Irish song "Galway Girl," the music video for which starred none other than Saoirse Ronan.
In 2022, Sheeran opened his +–=÷× Tour (Mathematics Tour) with eight dates in Ireland and Northern Ireland. Later that year, he was honored and played at the Irish Arts Center's annual gala in New York City.
More recently, the British singer-songwriter has teamed up with Lowden Guitars in Northern Ireland.
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