(From left) The members of Celtic Woman, Chloë Agnew, Muirgen O’Mahony, Megan Walsh and Tara McNeill (Photo by Donal Moloney)
A native of Ireland’s County Cork, Muirgen O’Mahony is excited to be back onstage after the Grammy-nominated group Celtic Woman took a two-year hiatus from live performances due to the pandemic. The 2022 “Postcards from Ireland” tour is O’Mahony’s first time touring with the group, and she says so far, it’s been a whirlwind.
“Celtic Woman is a group that I have grown up watching and listening to,” she says. “Even to be invited to audition was an absolute honor in itself, so if you will, it was a dream job, so it was never a question of ‘Oh, is this something I would like to do?’ It’s kind of like this has been the peak of my career.”
Currently living in London, O’Mahony has a bachelor’s degree in classical singing from Ireland’s Cork School of Music and a master’s degree in musical theater from London’s Royal Academy of Music. As Celtic Woman celebrates its 16th anniversary with an 83-city North American tour, O’Mahony says she’s grateful to have joined her fellow vocalists including Megan Walsh, Tara McNeill and original member Chloë Agnew.
Celtic Woman will perform at the Altria Theater Tuesday, March 22, at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $42 to $153. For more information, visit altriatheater.com.
Richmond magazine: You’re a soprano for the group, but do you also play any instruments as part of the Celtic Woman performance?
Muirgen O’Mahony: So, within Celtic Woman I am one of the vocalists, but in terms of myself, I am an instrumentalist. I’ve played the classical flute for most of my life, and I’ve taught it, and I’ve done my teaching diploma and everything like that, but I was one of those children who kind of took up a lot of instruments, played them for three or four years maybe, and then gave it up, so I was kind of a jack-of-all-trades, master of none for some time. But within Celtic Woman, I am solely one of the principal vocalists, which is really where my heart lies.
RM: Any chance we’ll hear some flute in a future Celtic Woman performance?
O’Mahony: [Laughs] Well, I was terrified, actually, initially when I told them that I did play the flute because I was kind of like, “Oh no, they’re going to ask me to play,” and I don’t really play it as part of my performance anymore. It’s more I teach it sometimes, but the last five or six years I’ve really focused on my vocal training and performance, so we’ll see, I’ll never say never.
RM: Since Celtic Woman has been touring for 16 years, what would you say keeps people coming back?
O’Mahony: Honestly, the longstanding support and the continued support of everyone is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. … Celtic Woman has this fan base that just loves the music and really feel such a powerful connection to the music and the Celtic Woman product that you step out onstage, and already they’re just so delighted to be sharing this kind of experience with you. And I do think that is what keeps bringing audiences back, and it’s that feeling of connection to Ireland and to Irish music, and for me, to think of Ireland, you can travel the length and breadth of the country in six hours, and to experience this worldwide connection that people have to this tiny country is so beautiful.
RM: Do people really get this authentic connection to Ireland just by attending?
O’Mahony: Absolutely. Being from Ireland, you kind of take for granted different elements of the Irish culture, be it Irish language or Irish dancing or instrumentation and stuff, but to take it out of context of, let’s say, being in Ireland, it really is such a spectrum of different elements of Irish culture, and particularly if you’re someone who’s never actually heard anything of the sort or seen anything of the sort, it’s a real phenomenon and just a fantastic thing to see. And I think it gives an all-around good sense of what Irish music and Irish art really is about, and it really is just a fantastic show. It has kind of its stiller moments with different ballads, it has Irish dancing, we have musicians and dancers doing kind of dance battle moments, and it really is just an exciting show, and it really feels like there is something for everyone in it.
RM: As a newcomer to the tour, have you received any advice from your fellow vocalists?
O’Mahony: Honestly, from day one they were just so open and very much like, “Anything you need, anything you need to know, you just contact us.” And I’m sure I have been burning the ear off of them in some respects by asking different questions, particularly about tour life. That’s the biggest change and the newest experience for me really, and getting pointers on that was definitely something of huge importance to me. But in terms of the show itself, what’s so fantastic is I get to learn from these girls, and I’m learning from the absolute best. Even just by being onstage with them each night, I’m watching them in their element, and in some ways I’m kind of subconsciously internalizing what they’re doing and how they deal with their own nerves or different things like that, and it’s just such a collaborative experience … there’s always something new to be learned, and I’m just so privileged that I get to do it with this caliber of performers.
RM: Have you ever been to Richmond before?
O’Mahony: I have, actually, yes. So, before the pandemic hit, I was on a small tour, and I think it must have been February time, and yes, we passed through Richmond, but it was a very fleeting experience, so I’m really looking forward to getting back and hopefully being able to see around the place. That’s the one issue with the hectic schedule is that we often are either in the hotel room or on the tour bus or in the theater, so I would love to get to have a little more time looking around.
RM: What should people look forward to when they come to the show?
O’Mahony: Just being back at a live performance is just so special in itself, and this production has so many different elements and different layers, and it really is an all-encompassing production of Irish culture and beautiful music, beautiful dancing, and it really is a feast for the eyes and the ears.
