Ed Sheeran gives surprise pub performance during Irish music festival

Ed Sheeran recently said on a podcast that despite being born in England, he thinks of himself as Irish because his dad’s family is Irish and he spent summers in Ireland as a kid. So it’s perhaps no surprise that on Tuesday he dropped into the world’s largest annual festival of traditional Irish music for a surprise performance.

The festival this year is taking place in Wexford, which just happens to be the hometown of Ed’s late grandmother. According to multiple reports, Ed pulled played a pop-up gig in the town’s The Sky & The Ground pub.

Ed posted on his Instagram Story clips of two songs he performed at the pub, “Don’t” and a cover of the Irish band Snow Patrol‘s hit “Chasing Cars.” But that’s not all he sang: Fan TikToks show him performing his songs “Castle On the Hill” and “Nancy Mulligan.”

Also on his Instagram Story, Ed posted a photo of a pint of Guinness with a sideways triangle — the symbol of his upcoming album, Play — drawn into the foam on top. The pint is sitting next to a coaster that reads, “Are you ready to Play, Ireland?” along with the date of the album’s release, Sept. 12.