Naisrín Elsafty (born 1989) is an Irish-Egyptian singer and surgeon. She is notable as a distinguished exponent of

sean-nós singing Sean-nós singing ( , ; Irish for "old style") is unaccompanied traditional Irish vocal music usually performed in the Irish language. Sean-nós singing usually involves very long melodic phrases with highly ornamented and melismatic melodic ...

, an unaccompanied and heavily ornamented style characteristic of the Irish-speaking area where she grew up.

Early life and career

Naisrín is one of the younger daughters of Treasa Ní Cheannabháin, a native of

County Galway "Righteousness and Justice" , anthem = () , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Galway.svg , map_caption = Location in Ireland , area_footnotes = , area_total_km2 = ...

and a fine singer in the sean-nós tradition, and Saber Elsafty, an Egyptian doctor. She was raised with her sisters and her twin brother in the

Conamara Connemara (; )( ga, Conamara ) is a region on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of western County Galway, in the west of Ireland. The area has a strong association with traditional Irish culture and contains much of the Connacht Irish-speak ...

Gaeltacht ( , , ) are the districts of Ireland, individually or collectively, where the Irish government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant vernacular, or language of the home. The ''Gaeltacht'' districts were first officially recog ...

in the West of Ireland. Naiseín is the sister of Róisín Elsafty. Naisrín grew up in a multicultural and multi-religious household, celebrating both

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

and the

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

festival of

Eid ul-Fitr , nickname = Festival of Breaking the Fast, Lesser Eid, Sweet Eid, Sugar Feast , observedby = Muslims , type = Islamic , longtype = Islamic , significance = Commemoration to mark the end of fasting in Ramadan , dat ...

(the end of

Ramadan , type = islam , longtype = Religious , image = Ramadan montage.jpg , caption=From top, left to right: A crescent moon over Sarıçam, Turkey, marking the beginning of the Islamic month of Ramadan. Ramadan Quran reading in Bandar Torkaman, Iran. ...

). Her parents had met while working in Denmark and eventually married in the Conamara parish of Cill Chiaráin. The children attended local schools and grew up multilingual in Irish, English and Egyptian Arabic. Naisrín and her family retain links with the Middle East, and in 2008 she and her mother were detained for a time in Gaza after slipping across the border from

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

while carrying money collected in Ireland for

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

families. Elsafty qualified as a doctor at the

Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) is a medical professional and educational institution, which is also known as RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ireland's first private university. It was established in 1784 ...

in 2012, and works as a

specialist registrar A specialist registrar (SpR) is a doctor in the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland who is receiving advanced training in a specialist field of medicine in order to become a consultant in that specialty. After graduation from medical school ...

otorhinolaryngology Otorhinolaryngology ( , abbreviated ORL and also known as otolaryngology, otolaryngology–head and neck surgery (ORL–H&N or OHNS), or ear, nose, and throat (ENT)) is a surgical subspeciality within medicine that deals with the surgical a ...

Music

Naisrín comes from a family of musicians, and has performed widely in Irish at festivals and gatherings. A number of her performances have been recorded on

video Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syste ...

and can be accessed via

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. She has not yet released a CD of her own, but does appear on a CD of new and traditional material released by her sister

Róisín Róisín, sometimes anglicized as Roisin or Rosheen, is an Irish female given name, meaning "little rose". The English equivalent is Rose, Rosaleen or Rosie. People * Roisin Conaty, English comedian * Roisin Dunne, guitarist in the group 7 Yea ...

.Róisín Elsafty - ''Má Bhíonn Tú Liom Bí Liom'' CD http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=7370079/ Accessed 7 July 2011

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elsafty, Naisrin 1989 births Living people Irish people of Egyptian descent Sean-nós singers 21st-century Irish women singers