Killarney is celebrating a major international achievement this week as local native Ruairí O’Flaherty secured top honours at the 68th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles.

The senior mastering engineer, who works at the world-renowned Sterling Sound studio in the United States, was part of the technical team behind Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s "Luther," which won the prestigious Record of the Year award on Sunday night.

Mayor of Killarney Councillor Martin Grady extended warm congratulations to O’Flaherty following the ceremony.

"There was tremendous Kerry pride at the Grammy Awards last night as we watched Ruairí O’Flaherty play a key role in winning the prestigious Record of the Year award," Mayor Grady said. "This is an outstanding achievement and a testament to Ruairí’s exceptional talent, dedication, and hard work. He has made his family and his hometown extremely proud."

The Mayor added that O’Flaherty’s success serves as an inspiration to young people in Killarney and Kerry, proving that local talent can reach the highest levels of the global music industry.

O’Flaherty’s work was credited across four nominations in several of the night’s most prominent categories.

In addition to the win for Record of the Year, he received credits for Album of the Year nominations for Kendrick Lamar’s GNX and Sabrina Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend.

This year’s success follows previous Grammy recognition for O’Flaherty.

Last year, he was nominated for his work on a Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet and St. Vincent’s All Born Screaming.

Local Roots
Before his career took him to San Francisco and eventually to the top tier of the American recording industry, O’Flaherty was a well-known figure in the Killarney music scene.

He worked at Variety Sounds music shop on College Street and performed alongside his brothers in the popular local folk group Gliondar during the early 2000s.