Méav Ní Mhaolchatha ( , ),

mononymously A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person. In some cases, a mononym selected by an individual may have originally been from a polynym, a word which refers to one o ...

known as Méav, is an Irish singer, songwriter and recording artist specialising in the

traditional music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

of her homeland. She was one of the original soloists in the musical ensemble

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 ...

, which has sold over six million albums. Her solo albums have reached the Billboard World Music Top 10. She sings in multiple languages: English, Irish, French,

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, Italian and German.

Music career

Meav came from a musical family and began singing at a young age. She began singing professionally shortly after graduating from

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

with a law degree. Between 1994 and 1998 Méav was a member of the Irish chamber choir

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 ...

. As a choral singer and soloist, she recorded four albums with Anúna: ''Omnis'' (1995), ''Omnis'' Special Edition (1996), ''Deep Dead Blue'' (1996), and ''Behind the Closed Eye'' (1997). In 2006 a collection of her solo and choral work with Anúna, ''Celtic Dreams'', was released on Valley Entertainment Records. She appeared as a member of Anúna in ''Riverdance: The Show''. She subsequently toured the United States as a soloist with the Irish

RTÉ Concert Orchestra The RTÉ Concert Orchestra is one of the two full-time professional radio orchestras in Ireland that are part of RTÉ, the national broadcasting station. Since its formation as the Radio Éireann Light Orchestra in 1948, the RTÉ Concert Orchestr ...

. She also toured South Africa as a soloist with Lord of the Dance. She recorded her first and eponymous solo album in 1999 which had global success and led to concert tours in Japan and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. Méav gained musical stardom as a founding member of the group Celtic Woman in 2004. Her singing is a prominent element of Celtic Woman's three CDs, ''

'', '' Celtic Woman: A Christmas Celebration'', and '' Celtic Woman: A New Journey''. In 2005, Méav was expecting her first child and took maternity leave to await the birth of her first daughter, Anna. During tours, she was replaced by Irish singer

Deirdre Shannon Deirdre Gilsenan is an Irish singer who has toured with a variety of Celtic music groups, such as Anúna, Celtic Thunder and Celtic Woman. She is better known by the stage name Deirdre Shannon. Background Shannon was born into the Gilsenan ...

. In 2006, she returned to record the New Journey CD and DVD and toured extensively with the group in the US and Japan in 2006 and 2007. She has been featured in '' Celtic Woman: The Greatest Journey Essential Collection''. In 2007, following the filming of Celtic Woman's Christmas DVD at the Helix, Dublin, Méav left Celtic Woman to concentrate on her solo career. She performed a series of solo concerts in New England, USA. In 2009, she returned to the stage performing in her native Dublin to rave reviews. She also gave birth to her second daughter Catherine and recorded " Where the Sunbeams Play" for the Disney film ''

Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure ''Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure'' is a 2009 American computer-animated adventure film directed by Klay Hall (in his feature directorial debut) and the second installment in the ''Disney Fairies'' franchise. Produced by DisneyToon Studios, i ...

''. In 2010, she was a special guest of Órla Fallon's Celtic Christmas concert in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

singing "

Do You Hear What I Hear? "Do You Hear What I Hear?" is a song written in October 1962, with lyrics by Noël Regney and music by Gloria Shayne. The pair, married at the time, wrote it as a plea for peace during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Regney had been invited by a record p ...

" in a duet with Fallon, her solo version of "

O Holy Night "O Holy Night" (original title: ) is a well-known sacred song for Christmas performance. Originally based on a French-language poem by poet Placide Cappeau, written in 1843, with the first line (Midnight, Christian, is the solemn hour) that co ...

" accompanied by harp and the finale song "

Here We Come A-wassailing ''Here We Come A-wassailing'' (or ''Here We Come A-Caroling''), also known as ''Here We Come A-Christmasing,'' ''Wassail Song'' and by many other names, is a traditional English Christmas carol and New Year song, typically sung whilst wassailing, ...

" with the rest of the cast including American singing stars

David Archuleta David James Archuleta (born December 28, 1990) is an American pop singer. At ten years old, he won the children's division of the Utah Talent Competition, leading to other television singing appearances. When he was twelve years old, he becam ...

and

Vince Gill Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American country music singer, songwriter and musician. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman of the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s and as a solo artist b ...

, recorded, aired on PBS and released on CD and DVD. Méav participated in a concert of world music at Chambord Castle, France, entitled "Divinas", along with Yulia Townsend and Persian-born Israeli singer

Rita Rita may refer to: People * Rita (given name) * Rita (Indian singer) (born 1984) * Rita (Israeli singer) (born 1962) * Rita (Japanese singer) * Eliza Humphreys (1850–1938), wrote under the pseudonym Rita Places * Djarrit, also known as Rita, ...

. Méav was also featured as a guest soloist on the

Christmas album '' Home for Christmas''. This was the first time she had appeared with Celtic Woman since she left the group in 2007. She appeared in the Celtic Woman PBS special, Home for Christmas, which was recorded on 7 August 2013. In January 2012, Méav took part in the television special, Quest Beyond the Stars which took place at

Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music c ...

, London. She released a new solo album, ''The Calling'', on Warner Music in Autumn 2013. Meav again rejoined Celtic Woman temporarily for their North American 10th anniversary tour from 6 March to Easter 2015. Méav rejoined Celtic Woman as their vocal director for their 2018 Homecoming album.

Personal life

She and her husband, Tom Clinch have two daughters named Anna and Catherine. On 12 March 2022, their 12-year-old daughter, Catherine, won the Best Actress award at the 2022

IFTA Ifta is a former municipality in the Wartburgkreis district of Thuringia, Germany. Since 1 January 2019, it has been part of the town Treffurt Treffurt () is a small town in the western region of the Wartburgkreis district which belongs to the f ...

s for her lead role in Colm Bairéad's

Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

movie,

An Cailín Ciúin ''The Quiet Girl'' ( ) is a 2022 Irish coming-of-age drama film written and directed by Colm Bairéad. The dialogue is mostly in Irish. Set in 1981, the film follows a withdrawn nine-year-old girl who experiences a loving home for the first time ...

Discography

;Solo albums ;With Celtic Woman ;With

Yulia Yulia ( Юлия) is a female given name, the equivalent of the Latin Julia. It can be spelled Yulia, Yulya, Julia, Julja, Julija, Yuliia, Yuliya, Juliya or İulia. An alternative spelling is Ioulia/Gioulia (Greek) or Iuliia. Prononciations can diff ...

and

References

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External links

Meav.ie
– Official website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ni Mhaolchatha, Meav Celtic Woman members Musicians from Dublin (city) Opera crossover singers Living people Irish-language singers Alumni of Trinity College Dublin French-language singers Latin-language singers 20th-century Irish women singers 1974 births 21st-century Irish women singers