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. A mononym may be the person's only name, given to them at birth. This was routine in most ancient societies, and remains ...

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, 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 ...

, 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 languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, Italian and German.

Music career

Meav came from a musical family and began singing at a young age. In 1993, she graduated from

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

with a law degree. Shortly after, she began singing professionally. 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 a professional radio orchestra in Ireland and is part of RTÉ, the national broadcaster. Since its formation as the Radio Éireann Light Orchestra in 1948, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra has grown from a small studio-bas ...

. 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. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. Méav gained musical stardom as a founding member of the group Celtic Woman in 2004 and is featured on 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. 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''. In 2010, she was a special guest of Órla Fallon's Celtic Christmas concert in

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

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 ...

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

O Holy Night "O Holy Night" (original title: ) is a sacred song about the night of the birth of Jesus Christ, described in the first verse as "the dear Saviour", and frequently performed as a Christmas carol. Based on the French-language poem ''Minuit, ch ...

" accompanied by harp and the finale song " Here We Come A-wassailing" with the rest of the cast including American singing stars

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 ...

and

Vince Gill Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He played in a number of local bluegrass music, bluegrass bands in the 1970s, and from 1978 to 1982, he achieved his first mainstream attention after ta ...

, 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. 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 music recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, London, Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of ...

, 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. At age 12, their daughter Catherine Clinch won the Best Actress Award at the 2022 IFTAs for her lead role in Colm Bairéad's Irish-language film '' An Cailín Ciúin'', released in 2022.

Discography

;Solo albums ;With Celtic Woman ;With

Yulia Yulia () 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 differ, depe ...

and Rita

References

# #

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 of Ireland Latin-language singers of Ireland 20th-century Irish women singers 1974 births 21st-century Irish women singers