A Donegal mum has found a very easy way to get her little one to sleep thanks to pop sensation Ed Sheeran.

The song Nancy Mulligan from Ed Sheeran’s new album Divide is known as a lively track to dance to, but one Letterkenny baby hears it as the perfect lullaby.

Baby Ava Jean, who is six months old, only has to hear a few seconds of the tune before falling fast asleep – and it’s this song alone that has such an effect on her.

Ava Jean and mum Bronagh Mitchell

Ava Jean’s mum Bronagh Mitchell told Donegal Woman how she discovered the power of the traditional melody:

“Ava Jean is normally a very good baby. She never really cries and if she ever does we don’t know what to do.

“When the album came out my sister told me about the song ‘Nancy Mulligan’ and said I’d love it. I put it on and Ava Jean looked around to see where the sound was coming from. The second she heard the first beat she stopped crying. Now she always stops crying the minute the song comes on,” Bronagh explains.

Ava Jean seems to take after her mum’s good taste in music, and now Bronagh is delighted she has a handy way of getting her to settle down.

Strangely, no other song on the bestselling album has such an impact on the baby girl.

“I’ve played Shape of You and Galway Girl to her, but she doesn’t react the same. She is just so calm when Nancy Mulligan comes on. I don’t know why, it must be the beat or something.”

Bronagh recorded this video of Ava Jean when she was just four months old. She says that the song still works today. She has shared the cute clip on social media in the hope that Ed Sheeran would see it.

“She loves all music but I don’t know what it is about this one,” Bronagh said.

Ava Jean has to be one of Ed’s youngest fans in the world!