Órlagh Fallon (born 24 August 1974), professionally known as Órla Fallon, is an Irish singer, songwriter and former member of the group

Celtic Woman Celtic Woman is an all-female Irish musical ensemble, formed in 2004 for a one-time event held in Dublin, Ireland. They started touring internationally as a group after multiple airings on PBS helped to boost the group's popularity. Celtic W ...

and the 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 ...

Early life and education

Fallon was born in Knockananna,

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. She plays the harp and sings

traditional Irish music Irish traditional music (also known as Irish trad, Irish folk music, and other variants) is a Music genre, genre of folk music that developed in Ireland. In ''A History of Irish Music'' (1905), W. H. Grattan Flood wrote that, in Gaelic Irela ...

, most often in the

Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...

. Fallon studied at

Mater Dei Institute of Education Mater Dei Institute of Education () was a linked college of Dublin City University from 1999 until its closure in 2016, located in Drumcondra, Dublin City, Ireland, near Croke Park, on the site of what was formerly Clonliffe College, the Rom ...

, in Dublin. She has performed for the

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

and the

President of Ireland The president of Ireland () is the head of state of Republic of Ireland, Ireland and the supreme commander of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Irish Defence Forces. The presidency is a predominantly figurehead, ceremonial institution, serving as ...

and at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

Career

Early career

Fallon auditioned for Michael McGlynn and later joined Anúna. Her debut album, '' The Water is Wide'', was released in Europe in 2000 and in North America in 2006. In 2005, she was featured on

The Duggans The Duggans () were an Irish musical duo from County Donegal, Ireland. They were founder members of the Irish folk group Clannad. Early life Twin brothers Noel Duggan and Pádraig (Patrick) Duggan () were born on 23 January 1949 in Gweedore, C ...

album ''

Rubicon The Rubicon (; ; ) is a shallow river in northeastern Italy, just south of Cesena and north of Rimini. It was known as ''Fiumicino'' until 1933, when it was identified with the ancient river Rubicon, crossed by Julius Caesar in 49 BC. The ri ...

'' along with peers

Moya Brennan Moya Brennan (born Máire Philomena Ní Bhraonáin on 4 August 1952), also known as Máire Brennan, is an Irish folk singer, songwriter, harpist, and philanthropist. She is the sister of the musical artist known as Enya. She began performing pr ...

and other members of

Clannad Clannad () were an Irish band formed in 1970 in Gweedore, County Donegal, by siblings , and (Moya) (in English, Brennan) and their twin uncles Noel and (Duggan). They have adopted various musical styles throughout their history. Beginn ...

Celtic Woman

In 2004, Fallon sent a demo offer to composer David Downes, who was then working on the concept of

. Due to her unique vocal abilities, Downes contacted Fallon and asked if she would like to be a part of Celtic Woman, then only envisaged to be a one-night show. She agreed and became one of the founding members of the group as a singer and harpist. Fallon was featured in the self-titled debut album ''

'', '' Celtic Woman: A Christmas Celebration'' and '' Celtic Woman: A New Journey'' as well as in the tie-in PBS television specials and DVDs filmed in 2004, 2007, and 2006 respectively. She also toured with the group in 2005 on the inaugural North American Tour, the 2006-07 ''A New Journey'' tour, and again in 2007–08 on the second ''A New Journey'' tour. She wrote a song called ''Shooting Star'' for herself and performed it in the 2005 and 2006 Celtic Woman tours. In 2009, Fallon announced that she would be leaving Celtic Woman to have a full break and spend time with her family and was replaced as a member of Celtic Woman by actress and vocalist Alex Sharpe.

Post-Celtic Woman

In 2009, Fallon appeared as a guest vocalist on

Jim Brickman James Merrill Brickman (born November 20, 1961) is an American pop songwriter, pianist and radio host. Brickman has earned two Grammy nominations for his albums ''Peace'' (2003) for Best Instrumental, and ''Faith'' (2009) for Best New Age Album. ...

's "It's a Beautiful World" tour and PBS special and released her second album '' Distant Shore'' (which included her own ''Shooting Star'' song) in September of that year. This was followed in March 2010 with her third album '' Music of Ireland: Welcome Home''. In December 2010, Fallon released a PBS ''Celtic Christmas'' special and tie-in CD, titled '' Órla Fallon's Celtic Christmas'', the first time any former Celtic Woman member had starred in their own PBS special. In this special, as well as Fallon's own songs, there were also songs which featured a few guest singers, including former fellow Celtic Woman member Méav Ní Mhaolchatha, in which they sang a duet together ("Do you hear what I hear"), and ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...

'' runner up

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

, who joined Fallon on stage to perform "Silent Night", "

Patapan "Patapan" (or "Pat-a-pan") is a French Christmas carol in Burgundian dialect, later adapted into English. It was written by Bernard de la Monnoye (1641–1728) and first published in ''Noël bourguignons'' in 1720. Its original title is "Guillô, ...

", and the finale song of "Here we come A-Wassailing", which Ní Mhaolchatha was also featured in. This was the second Christmas album she recorded, the first being '' Winter, Fire & Snow: A Celtic Christmas Collection'' in September 2010. In March 2011, Fallon released another album, '' Órla Fallon: My Land'', which tied in with another PBS special. Links to audio clips found on Fallon's official website Both PBS specials were produced by The Elevation Group and

WNET WNET (channel 13), branded on-air as Thirteen (stylized as THIRTEEN), is a primary PBS member television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area. Owned by The WNET Group (formerly known as the Educ ...

. Another solo album, '' Lullaby Time'', was released in 2012.

Personal life

She has been married to John Comerford since 1997 and has a son named Freddie, who was born in 2012.

Discography

; Solo *'' The Water is Wide'' (2000 EURO) (2006 U.S.) *'' Distant Shore'' (September 2009) *''Music of Ireland: Welcome Home'' (March 2010) *''Winter, Fire & Snow: A Celtic Christmas Collection'' (September 2010) *''Órla Fallon's Celtic Christmas'' (November 2010) *''Órla Fallon: My Land'' (March 2011) *''Lullaby Time'' (2012) *''Sweet By and By'' (March 2017) *''A Winter's Tale'' (October 2019) *''Lore'' (July 2020) *''Abide with Me: Celtic Hymns and Songs of Faith'' (2022) ; With Celtic Woman *''

'' (March 2005) *'' Celtic Woman: A Christmas Celebration'' (October 2006) *'' Celtic Woman: A New Journey'' (January 2007) *'' Celtic Woman: The Greatest Journey'' (October 2008) *'' Celtic Woman: The Best of Christmas'' (November 2017) ; With

*''Beautiful World'' (2009) ; With

*''

'' (2005)

References

External links

OrlaFallon.com
– Official website
Profile at CelticWoman.com
* ; Multimedia :
''Crossover''
– Jill Pasternak interview (18 March 2006) {{DEFAULTSORT:Fallon, Orla 1974 births Alumni of Mater Dei Institute of Education Celtic Woman members Irish women harpists Living people Musicians from County Wicklow Opera crossover singers Irish-language singers 20th-century Irish women singers 21st-century Irish women singers 20th-century Irish harpists 21st-century Irish harpists 2000s in Irish music 2010s in Irish music 2020s in Irish music