For St. Patrick’s Day 2022, Cork-born singer-songwriter Cian Ducrot has covered a Dermot Kennedy song that carries profound meaning and memories for him. “‘Rome’ is one of my favorite songs of the last few years and was first shown to me by my best friend, Phily Dunne, who sadly took his life not long after,” Ducrot tells Apple Music. “The song holds a very special place in my heart. Bittersweet, it brings back all the memories of our times together and is one of the only songs that allows me to mourn his death. I love singing it, and it truly feels like a classic Irish ballad.” Appearing here alongside a new version of his own “Crocodiles,” Ducrot’s cover carefully takes “Rome” in new directions. “Covering Dermot Kennedy is probably the hardest challenge ever,” he says. “His voice is unmatched, so there’s that, but also the production is so simple in the original track, and I wanted to do something a little different but without ruining the original magic of the song. So, it took some time to figure out how to do that.” Noticeably, Ducrot, son of a flautist, has added a haunting layer of woodwind that calls back to Irish folk tradition—in keeping with the emotive punch of Kennedy’s lyrics and Ducrot’s performance. “[Irish music] tends to be extremely raw and real,” Ducrot says. “It usually comes from pain or love, and straight from the heart, crafted in a beautifully melodic and poetic way. I think some of the best songwriting of our time is Irish or has been influenced massively by Irish music.”