Róisín O’Reilly’s is probably best known to Irish audiences through her work with Liam Lawton, recording songs on his albums “Another World” and “Time”, as well as featuring on two of Liam’s DVD’s including the spectacular open air concert “Song of a Celtic Soul” recorded in the Dublin Docklands in 2005. Róisín toured extensively with Liam between 2004 and 2007, as a guest artist on his nationwide tours.

Róisín’s voice has also been a regular feature of Irish radio over the last number of years - whether singing the powerful “Ave Maria” from Liam’s Another World album or delicate and beautiful “The Edge of the Moon” from Róisín’s own album “Love so Kindly”. A typical reaction to hearing Róisín singing is one of familiarity -but not exactly knowing why. Considering Róisín has featured on five platinum selling albums in Ireland, two double platinum compilations in the UK, including a UK Christmas Number 1 selling album - it’s not surprising her voice is comfortingly familiar.

The good news for music lovers is that we can hear Róisín in concert in her own right, as she is embarking on a solo tour – “Róisín O’Reilly - In Concert” – which starts at the Town Hall Theatre, Galway on Friday, May 15th, quickly followed by a second show at the Watergate Theatre, Kilkenny on Thursday May 21st. Further dates are booked for Portlaoise, Rathoath and the National Concert Hall, Dublin later in the autumn.

So who is Róisín O’Reilly? While Róisín’s musical roots were set growing up with a musical family in Cavan, it was as soloist in the well known Celtic Choral Group Anuna that she first experienced recording and touring after joining the group in 1996. After five very enjoyable years in which she preformed in such diverse locations as Morocco, Canada and Sweden, in 2001 Róisín left the group in order to record an album of Irish music for the Universal Classics & Jazz label in London. Róisín’s debut album titled “Love So Kindly” was a collection of Irish love songs, some old, some new. At the time of its release in 2003 “Love So Kindly” reached Number 3 in the Irish Classical Charts. One of the tracks from the album, “Edge of the Moon” – which was written by the late Christy Hennessy’s daughter Hermonie Ross – is a regular favourite of RTE’s Lyric FM listeners where it still features among the most requested tracks.

Róisín is firstly and foremost a lover of music and she counts among her most treasured experiences performing alongside Aled Jones, Paco Pena, Beth Nielson Chapman and Julien Lloyd Weber. While no surprise to those who have listened to and enjoyed Róisín’s musical talents, Róisín was somewhat taken aback when she was invited by George Martin, the Beatles producer, to perform at his annual Christmas Carol Concert at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, London.

“Meeting the man who produced the Beatles albums was very special. That evening I had the opportunity to sing with The Oxford Boys Choir and chose the beautiful traditional Irish lullaby "Suantrai”. They later added this piece to their standard Christmas repertoire, something I was delighted to hear!”

So what can we expect when we settle into our seats as Róisín steps out on stage? “Basically a collection of songs that I love singing! I had my second child early last year and have not been touring since. This gave me the time to actually stop and think – ‘What do I really love to sing?’”

“I’m drawn to spiritual songs and old Irish laments; I also love Eastern sounding music as well as the Fado tradition from Portugal. I’ve chosen songs that have inspired me in some way – perhaps the lyrics or maybe just a melody – and my hope is that people take something special away as I did when I heard many of these songs for the first time.”

Discography

Cynara, Anuna (1999)
Deep Dead Blue, Anuna (1999)
Anthem, Ronan Hardiman (2000)
The Very Best of Summer Classics, Various Artists (2002)
Love So Kindly, Roisin O’Reilly (2003)
The No. 1 Classical Album 2004, Various Artists (2003)
Another World, Liam Lawton (2004)
Songbird, Various Artists (2004)
A Classic Christmas, Various Artists (2005)
Time, Liam Lawton (2005)
Over The Rainbow, Various Artists (2005)
Celtic Dreams, Various Artists (2007)