I grew up outside the beautiful coastal town of Westport, Co. Mayo. My first instrument was the piano on which my father taught me the basics, as well as how to read music. That was when I was six or seven. The first traditional music I learned was on the tin-whistle along with my sister Siochfradha at about eight years of age. We learned from the great piper Rory Sommers who lived in the West at the time and then from multi-instrumentalist John Hoban. John actually gave me a few lessons on the bodhran too! He taught a large amount of children and was a mighty teacher because he exposed me to the various different instruments he played - fiddle, banjo, whistle and mandola, by recording tunes on tape. Looking back, John’s easy-going attitude to the music was a very healthy influence. At the same time I was also learning classical music on the piano.

The first live music I heard at home was when I was about nine, when there were four Breton pipers and some bombard players playing in the house. They were over from Plougastel, a town in Brittany that is twinned with Westport. I remember they had to take out a window in case it broke with the shrill sound! I’m lucky to have parents who were so much into music. They listened to a lot of different types of music. At home you could hear Ray Charles as easily as De Dannan, Scott Joplan or any classical music. Around that time, I heard Rose Jordan play the harp. Rose was an accomplished musician as were the rest of her family and I remember being in awe of the sound. A couple of years later my father, who always fancied the idea of one of his children playing the harp, went away and bought one! This was when I was twelve. For the first year my teacher was Ann Marie Scanlon. She had expert classical technique and a superb soprano voice. I had little interest in singing so I became lazy and gave up for about a year. Then my Mum brought me to lessons with Kim Fleming in Roscommon. Kim taught me a good crossover of classical and traditional tunes. She was the first person I heard playing offbeat accompaniment to tunes. I went through ‘the drill’ of grades and harp competitions.