Deirdre Gilsenan is an Irish singer who has toured with a variety of

Celtic music Celtic music is a broad grouping of music genres that evolved out of the folk music traditions of the Celtic people of Northwestern Europe. It refers to both orally-transmitted traditional music and recorded music and the styles vary considerab ...

groups, such as

Anúna Anúna (stylized in all caps) is a vocal ensemble formed in Ireland in 1987 by Irish composer Michael McGlynn under the name An Uaithne. Taking the current name in 1991,Allmusic Biography/ref> the group has recorded 18 albums and achieved a ...

Celtic Thunder Celtic Thunder is an Irish singing group and stage show known for its eclectic, theatrical style show. The group is backed by the Celtic Thunder Band on their concert tours, and their live shows are known for the use of dramatic set pieces (of ...

and

Celtic Woman Celtic Woman is an all-female Irish musical ensemble conceived and created by David Kavanagh, Sharon Browne and David Downes, a former musical director of the Irish stage show ''Riverdance.'' In 2004, Downes recruited five Irish female music ...

. She is better known by the stage name Deirdre Shannon.

Background

Shannon was born into the Gilsenan family in

County Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the sou ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, as the middle child of five siblings. Shannon's exposure to music came very early on from her parents and older siblings. Her formal introduction came at the age of nine when she was enrolled for piano lessons. She and her siblings participated in the church choir and in local events, including weddings, funerals and local concerts. In 1992, Shannon entered Dublin's College of Music and studied under the guidance of vocal trainer Mary Brennan. She participated in many musical activities, including traveling with the

Dublin Institute of Technology Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT, ga, Institiúid Teicneolaíochta Bhaile Átha Cliath) was a major third-level institution in Dublin, Ireland. On 1 January 2019 DIT was dissolved and its functions were transferred to the Technological Un ...

Choir. Shannon began her professional career in 1996 when she was selected to be a member of the Irish choir

. In 1997, Shannon was selected by

Michael Flatley Michael Ryan Flatley (born July 16, 1958) is an Irish-American dancer. He became known for Irish dance shows ''Riverdance'', '' Lord of the Dance'', ''Feet of Flames'', and ''Celtic Tiger Live''. Flatley's shows have played to more than 60 milli ...

to join his worldwide tour with the show Lord of the Dance. She was cast into the role of Erin the Goddess and performed in over 800 shows over a four-year period covering most of North and South America. Since her professional debut, Shannon has performed with artists including Eily O'Grady,

Dionne Warwick Marie Dionne Warwick (; born December 12, 1940) is an American singer, actress, and television host. Warwick ranks among the 40 biggest U.S. hit makers between 1955 and 1999, based on her chart history on ''Billboards Hot 100 pop singles cha ...

, The

Celtic Tenors The Celtic Tenors began life as the Three Irish Tenors on RTÉ's ''Theatre Nights'' in October 1995. The group at that time consisted of James Nelson, Niall Morris, and Paul Hennessey. In 1998, Matthew “The Gill” Gilsenan from Kells, Co. Me ...

Air Supply Air Supply is a soft rock duo formed in Melbourne, Australia, in 1975. It consists of Englishman Graham Russell (vocals, guitar) and Australian Russell Hitchcock (vocals). They had a succession of hits worldwide, including eight top-five hit ...

, and

. Shannon's accomplishments have also included participating in the sound track of RTÉ's historical documentary television series called ''The Island''. She has also made appearances on

CBS Morning News The ''CBS Morning News'' is an American early-morning news broadcast presented weekdays on the CBS television network. The program features late-breaking news stories, national weather forecasts and sports highlights. Since 2013, it has been an ...

, Fox Morning TV, and '' The Late Late Show''. On 1 October 2006, Shannon released her solo album, simply entitled ''Deirdre Shannon''. She has also been a principal singer in the group in

, but she was never featured in the studio DVDs. Playing the role of the Gentlewoman, Shannon also sings "Harry's Game" as well as other songs in ''

Storm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet retains an atmos ...

'' which was released on CD and DVD on 20 September 2011.

Personal life

Shannon married her husband Alan in June 2012.

Discography

; Solo * ''Deirdre Shannon'' (2006) * ''Anamċeol'' (2011) ; With Celtic Thunder *'' Celtic Thunder: Storm'' (2011)

Background

Personal life

Discography

References

External links