Lisa O'Neill (born 1982) is an Irish singer-songwriter.

Early life

O'Neill grew up in

Ballyhaise Ballyhaise (; ) is a village in County Cavan, Ireland. It is situated some north-northeast of Cavan Town. It is approximately a 15-minute drive or 11 km via the N54 to the border with County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The River Annalee ...

, County Cavan.

Career

O'Neill moved to

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

aged 18 to study music at

Ballyfermot College Ballyfermot College of Further Education (BCFE; ) is an educational institution in Ballyfermot, Dublin, Ireland, a college of further and higher education. Management Ballyfermot College of Further Education is managed by the City of Dubl ...

. For seven years after that, she worked in the service industry in places like Eddie Rocket's and Bewley's of Grafton Street, continuing to write songs. Her first album, ''Has An Album'', was released in 2009. In 2011, David Gray invited her to open for him on his American and Canadian tour and she was also part of his touring band for a time. Her 2013 and 2018 albums were nominated for the

Choice Music Prize The Choice Music Prize (), known for sponsorship reasons as the RTÉ Choice Music Prize is an annual music prize awarded to the best album from a band or solo musician who is born in the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland or holds an Irish pa ...

. She played at the 2016

Vancouver Folk Music Festival The Vancouver Folk Music Festival (VFMF), founded in 1978, is an outdoor multistage music festival, located at Jericho Beach Park on the west side of Vancouver, British Columbia. It takes place annually, on the third weekend of July. The fes ...

. In 2016, O'Neill made an appearance on the debut album by the trio

Yorkston/Thorne/Khan Yorkston/Thorne/Khan (sometimes styled as Yorkston Thorne Khan or Yorkston ♥ Thorne ♥ Khan) is a musical trio made up of the Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist James Yorkston, English bass player and singer Jon Thorne and Indian sarang ...

, ''Everything Sacred''. In the album's liner notes, singer

James Yorkston James Yorkston (born James Patrick Yorkston Wright; 21 December 1971) is a Scottish folk musician, singer-songwriter and author from the village of Kingsbarns, Fife. He has been releasing music since 2001. As well as recording as a solo artist, ...

reveals that the possibility of calling the group Yorkston/Thorne/Khan/O'Neill was discussed, but that she saw herself as a guest. In 2017, O'Neill was featured in the film '' Song of Granite'', in which she sang "

The Galway Shawl {{Wikisource"The Galway Shawl" is a traditional Irish folk song, concerning a rural courtship in the West of Ireland. The first known version was collected by Sam Henry from Bridget Kealey in Dungiven in 1936.Sam Henry's Songs of the People, p 26 ...

". O'Neill won Best Original Folk Track with "Rock the Machine" (from her album ''Heard a Long Gone Song'') at the 2019 RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards, and was nominated for Folk Singer of the Year, Best Traditional Track, Best Original Track and Best Album at the

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

Folk Awards in the same year.

Discography

Studio albums

EP

*''The Wren, the Wren'' (2019)

References

External links

Official websiteLisa O'Neill on discogsLisa O'Neill on BandcampLisa O'Neill on YouTube
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oneill, Lisa 1982 births Living people 20th-century Irish people 21st-century Irish people Musicians from County Cavan Irish folk singers Folk guitarists Irish women singers People from Ballyhaise