Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1968

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Ireland in the
Eurovision Song Contest 1968
Eurovision Song Contest 1968
Participating broadcaster Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ)
CountryFlag of Ireland.svg  Ireland
Selection processNational Song Contest
Selection date3 March 1968
Competing entry
Song"Chance of a Lifetime"
Artist Pat McGeegan
Songwriter John Kennedy
Placement
Final result4th, 18 points
Participation chronology
◄196719681969►

Ireland was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1968 with the song "Chance of a Lifetime", written by John Kennedy, and performed by Pat McGeegan. The Irish participating broadcaster, Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ), selected its entry through a national final.

Contents

The contestants in the Irish National Final were decided by two semi-finals, where three were chosen from the first which was held on 6 February with the second being held on 20 February. The Final was held on 3 March 1968 and was broadcast on RTÉ TV from Dublin. All three shows were hosted by Brendan O'Reilly.

Before Eurovision

National Song Contest

The fourth National Song Contest consisted of two semi-finals and a final, held by Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ) in its studios in Dublin, hosted by Brendan O'Reilly. This was the first time that an Irish national final had a semi-final and remained the only time until 1996.

Competing entries

RTÉ opened a submission period for composers to submit songs between 27 October 1967 and 1 January 1968. Composers had to be Irish-born or live in Ireland and could only submit a maximum of two songs each. RTÉ selected 16 songs from the received submissions. [1]

ArtistSongSongwriter(s)
Alma Carroll"Give Me All Your Love"Joe Burkett
Anna McGoldrick"Gleann na Smól"Stephen Redmond S.J.
Anne Bushnell"Ballad to a Boy"Frank Dunne, Dolores Rockett
Dawn Knight"Why?"Mary MacDonagh
Deirdre Wynne"Woman Beside the Phone"Sean Fitzpatrick
Frances McDermott"Since the Spring"Sean Byrne
Frankie McBride"You're Not There at All"Hedley Kay
Gregory"You Can't Have Everything"John McBreen, Eamon O'Shea
Joan Connolly"Grown Up World"Séamus Fox
Leslie Cooke"Happy"Peter O'Brien
Pat Lynch "Kinsale"Jack Brierley, George Crosbie
Pat McGeegan "Chance of a Lifetime"John Kennedy
Roly Daniels"Look for Love"Andrew Dunne
Tina "One Love Two"Jim Doherty
Tommy Drennan "If You Love Me"Michael Reade
Tony Kenny"Bright Butterfly"Helen Dunne, Dolores Rockett

Semi-finals

Almost all of the running order and exact results for the semi-finals are unknown. Although three songs were intended to qualify from each semi-final, a mistake where song 'M' ("Gleann na Smól") was accidentally announced as having qualified instead of song 'N' ("Chance of a Lifetime"), meant that both songs qualified from the second semi-final. [2]

Semi-Final 1 - 6 February 1968 [3]
ArtistSong
Tony Kenny"Bright Butterfly"
Joan Connolly"Grown Up World"
Leslie Cooke"Happy"
Pat Lynch "Kinsale"
Tina"One Love Two"
Dawn Knight"Why"
Deirdre Wynne"Woman Beside the Phone"
Frankie McBride"You're Not There at All"
Semi-Final 2 - 20 February 1968 [2]
DrawArtistSong
5Anna McGoldrick"Gleann na Smól"
6 Pat McGeegan "Chance of a Lifetime"
Unknown Alma Carroll "Give Me All Your Love"
UnknownAnne Bushnell"Ballad to a Boy"
Unknown Tommy Drennan "If You Love Me"
UnknownRoly Daniels"Look for Love"
UnknownFrances McDermott"Since the Spring"
UnknownGregory"You Can't Have Everything"

Final

The final was held on 3 March 1968 at the RTÉ studios in Dublin, hosted by Brendan O'Reilly. The results were decided by 10 regional juries.

Final - 3 March 1968
DrawArtistSongPointsPlace
1Anna McGoldrick"Gleann na Smól"45
2Tony Kenny"Bright Butterfly"07
3Frances McDermott"Since the Spring"2 [4] 6
4 Pat McGeegan "Chance of a Lifetime"151
5Tina"One Love Two"133
6Pat Lynch"Kinsale"142
7Alma Carroll"Give Me All Your Love"124

At Eurovision

Ireland started at number 14 in the startfield and finished 4th with 18 points.

Voting

References

  1. Ryan, Michael (3 February 1968). "Into Europe... with a song". Evening Herald . Dublin, Ireland. p. 10. Retrieved 20 August 2025 via Newspapers.com.
  2. 1 2 Ryan, Michael (7 February 1968). "Red faces after song contest". Evening Herald . Dublin, Ireland. pp. 1, 4 . Retrieved 20 August 2025 via Newspapers.com.
  3. "First heat of National Song Contest". Irish Independent . Dublin, Ireland. 7 February 1968. p. 7. Retrieved 20 August 2025 via Newspapers.com.
  4. "Photographic image" (JPG). Stillslibrary.rte.ie. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  5. 1 2 "Results of the Final of London 1968". Eurovision Song Contest. Archived from the original on 8 April 2021. Retrieved 8 April 2021.