Olivia Rodrigo is ‘Dunboyne Diana’ – What the Iconic Crossover Between CMAT and Olivia Rodrigo Means for Women and Girls in Ireland
By Ana Lazarut
During Olivia Rodrigo’s press tour promoting her 3rd studio album “you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love”, the singer undertook a rite of passage within the music industry known to most as BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge. During her segment on the show, Olivia Rodrigo performed ‘the cure’ from her newest album, as well as CMAT’s ‘When A Good Man Cries’, with the latter resulting in an exciting interaction between the two artists (and an even more exciting day for the pop music fans everywhere).
Like her musical predecessors on Live Lounge (such as Hozier and his cover of ‘Do I Wanna Know?’ by the Arctic Monkeys [1] and Harry Styles’ cover of Lizzo’s ‘Juice’ [2]), Rodrigo’s performance went viral.
Users on both TikTok and Instagram gushed over Rodrigo’s vocals and ability to make the song her own. One user on TikTok commented that it was a “Great day for the parish”[3], with another saying that the cover was “the best she [Olivia Rodrigo] had ever sounded” [4].
However, most notable was the iconic moment which was born out of the American-Filipina singer’s actual saying of the phrase ‘Dunboyne Diana’, which is a lyric in CMAT’s ‘When A Good Man Cries’.
This unexpected crossover was startling to say the least, as I never had imagined that Ireland, let alone County Meath, would be on the singer’s mind or that Dunboyne would be on her lips.
Funnily enough, my shock and pleasure at Olivia Rodrigo’s cover was shared by CMAT herself, who took to social media to express her excitement, gratitude, and joy at the cover, captioning her video “she sang it better than me, so now I’m toast,” and in the proper Irish way, she invited Rodrigo to share a pint with her [5].
In CMAT’s reaction video to the cover, CMAT is dancing along to Olivia Rodrigo’s take on the song in what can only be described as total glee. CMAT repeats “She said Dunboyne!” multiple times, evidently astonished by the fact [5]. The Irish singer also exclaims, “I don’t know why that’s fuc*king killed me” during the video [5]. Much like CMAT, I feel the same. The comments of said video then became an Avengers Assemble-esque moment with Irish icons all joining in on the moment:
Jedward commented, “This is JEPIC” [6].
And Mr Tayto himself (or rather the intern tasked with boosting engagement for the account) weighed in with “YUP CMAT!!!” [7].
As a user so eloquently put it – “it’s [the Dunboyne Diana lyric sang by Olivia Rodrigo and CMAT’s reaction] like when you hear your hometown on the news” [8].
The interaction was not a comment section exclusive event, with Olivia Rodrigo and CMAT breaching into a face-to-face connection when Rodrigo was a guest on BBC Radio 1 a week after the cover went live, where she FaceTimed CMAT. The artists were able to express their excitement directly through this first meeting, with Rodrigo proposing to give a visit to CMAT’s mural in Dunboyne and play a show [9].
This interaction between the Meath-born Irishwoman and the ex-Disney actress turned Grammy Award-winning Artist is not only exciting and iconic for CMAT, myself, the island of Ireland, and fans everywhere, but also significant as both women are outspoken in their politics, especially when it comes to women’s rights.
Olivia Rodrigo has long been an advocate for women’s liberation, with her most notable action being the launch of her Fund 4 Good initiative in 2024. Fund 4 Good works by donations, “championing girls’ education, reproductive rights, and the prevention of gender-based violence” [10]. Although based in the U.S.A., the necessity of this initiative is felt even across the Atlantic in Belfast, where there has been a real issue of crime and violence against women and girls [11].
Post-CMAT cover, Rodrigo has newly launched the Daisy Chain Fields festival with an all-female line-up, based in California, in which all profits go towards an array of charities and non-profits fighting for women’s rights. Some include Baby2Baby, Black Mamas Matter Alliance, Jhpiego, Freeform, and Planned Parenthood [12].
CMAT shares this outspoken and unapologetic drive towards achieving gender-equality through her outspokenness about the hate and harassment she has faced due to her body during her appearance in BBC’s Radio 1 Big Weekend festival. Comments on a post highlighting her performance were limited due to the onslaught of abuse directed towards the singer. In an Instagram post, CMAT clarified, “I am not choosing to look like this or weigh this much as some kind of punk rock act of liberty”. She said, “I would love to stop [discussing the abuse] but I cannot because it keeps happening, at an accelerating and worsening pace”[13]. This all-too-common experience of the singer is also explored on her track ‘Take A Sexy Picture of Me’ on her latest album ‘Euro Country’, where she also broadly explores the failings of the Irish Government.
Most significant, however, is the fact that both women, although seemingly varying in their levels of advocacy, are both forced into their positions, like any other woman. As CMAT stated, she has become a symbol of some movement simply because her body exists in a space which does not welcome it. And with Roe v. Wade overturned and women’s healthcare being under the threat of extinction in the U.S.A., Rodrigo’s position comes from necessity, not choice.
So here, in Belfast, where women are murdered by their partners and friends and strangers alike simply for the fact that they are women, the CMAT and Olivia Rodrigo crossover feels like a move towards recognising and fighting against the growing femicide in Ireland. Evidently, one should not underestimate the pop music genre and what it can do for girls everywhere.
Sources:
[1] Youtube, https://youtu.be/fuWq4RZnc6U?si=p7LYmYMcQVMsdZ3N , Accessed June 26 2026
[2] Youtube, https://youtu.be/uPS1qFK6PAM?si=O64ETisv8I2N0bLH , Accessed June 26 2026
[3] @moyacvoice, TikTok, June 2 2026, commented on https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNRwF13PH/
[4] @coraline.ag, TikTok, June 2 2026, commented on https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNRwF13PH/
[5] Tiktok, https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNRwFqc8W/ , Posted June 2 2026
[6] @jepictiktok, TikTok, June 2 2026, commented on
[7] @mrtaytoireland, TikTok, June 3 2026, commented on https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNRwFqc8W/
[8] @moniponi, TikTok, June 2 2026, commented on https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNRwFqc8W/
[9] TikTok, https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNRwj4wGp/ , Posted June 9 2026
[10] Fund4Good, https://store.oliviarodrigo.com/pages/fund-4-good?srsltid=AfmBOor3DO5uLqmQD3adMUMBieFpDom2ulrPLcwL0RHJd8VPQyUG2CUK, Accessed June 26 2026
[12] Daisy Chain Fields, https://www.daisychainfields.com/non-profit, Accessed June 26 2026
[13] Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/p/DY5OkGLDJ1o/?igsh=MTdqZHcwZ3ZyZXppdg==, Posted May 28 2026
