Ina Boyle was a pupil of the British composer, Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958). She lived quietly with her family in Co. Wicklow and would travel regularly to London for lessons with Vaughan Williams, who thought highly of his Irish student. Despite his encouragement, Boyle would not relocate to London and instead lived all of her life in the family home caring for her parents and sister who needed her, while still composing every day, drawing inspiration from the beautiful countryside around the family home. As a result of her isolation from musical life in London, early success was not followed through and performances of her music dwindled.

Her huge body of work including, symphonies, choral, vocal and chamber music, in addition to an opera and various stage works, remain largely unperformed and are preserved in manuscript form in the Library of Trinity College Dublin awaiting rediscovery. It is particularly poignant that Ina Boyle heard so little of her music performed in her lifetime. Modern audiences now have the opportunity of hearing and enjoying her music being performed for the first time.

The Ina Boyle Songbook was launched on 11th Oct 2023 by the Ina Boyle Society in collaboration with Irish Heritage. The launch took place in the surrounds of Marylebone Church NW1, where talented young Irish Heritage musicians performed a selection of the songs.

“For anyone interested in getting a more intimate portrait of Boyle’s musical imagination, this CD is an absolute must.”
Journal of Music - Adrian Smith

The Ina Boyle Society are delighted that the most recent CD of Ina’s songs has received overwhelmingly positive reviews, and has enjoyed repeat broadcasts on BBC Northern Ireland, Lyric FM and Radio 3’s ‘In Tune’ programme.

The Ina Boyle Society Limited is a cultural organisation registered in the UK. Formerly as the Ina Boyle Development Committee, we have successfully championed and promoted the forgotten Irish composer, Ina Boyle, through the development of Anglo-Irish cultural partnerships. This has led to the recognition of Ina Boyle as one of Ireland’s most important and prolific Irish women composers of the early 20th Century, and to the growth of performances, broadcasts and recordings of her music. We plan to develop our mission of promoting the music of Ina Boyle to other neglected Irish composers, particularly women whose music deserves to be heard more widely.