Ciara's debut song pays tribute to her beloved granny

Many of her first musical memories are tied in with her beloved grandmother Birdie Murphy, a well known Wicklow musician, who was part of the popular Avoca Céilí Band.

It is touching and entirely fitting then, that Ciara Lawless's debut release is a tribute to her memory and the “massive impact” she had her musical journey to date.

'Half The Man' is a poignant story exploring the complexities of Alzheimer's disease and the impact it has on a father-son relationship. It's a very personal song for the Taughmaconnell performer, who was inspired by her grandmother's battle with the condition and co-wrote the release with three other talented songwriters, David Owens and Parisch Browne from Ireland, and the renowned Italian songwriter Angelo Iossa, who she collaborated with at the Galway Songwriting Camp in February of 2020, just one week before the world was turned upside down by the Covid-19 pandemic.

It's been on ice since then, and the former Bower student is now really excited for people to finally hear her debut release, with two other singles planned for release later this year, and another in January prior to the launch of her first album in the spring of 2024 entitled 'Where I Supposed to Go With This Love?'.

“I wanted the first release from the album to be a tribute to my grandmother,” Ciara, who turned 24 last week explained, saying her love of music was legendary before relaying a story of Birdie working in convent for three years with no pay after the nuns agreed to buy her an accordion for £350 when she couldn't afford it.

“She really inspired me growing up and Alzheimers is a thing for someone who really loves music, it's actually the last thing in the brain to go, so right up to the end she was able to play the accordion even when she didn't know who any of us were.

“The last time I saw her I handed her the accordion and I was singing along and for one minute I thought she knew me,” Ciara recalled poignantly, saying Birdie would light up whenever there was music in the room. “I really wanted to have a tribute (the first single) to her because of how special she was.”

Despite the song being inspired by a woman, Ciara and her co-writers took the idea of a son being lucky enough to be 'half the man' his father is and based the story on that relationship to create an ultimately uplifting song with a lot of power.

“It's a really hard thing because the person is there but they are slipping away from you,” stated Ciara, pointing out that families go through a type of grieving process with Alzheimers even though the person is still alive.

Involved in musical theatre and local stage schools from a young age, Ciara later went to The Academy of Music in Tullamore to study classical music and opera, and also studied singing with Petrova Mulvey in Athlone.

She fell in love with songwriting and was lucky enough to get the opportunity to go to LA and France and got to collaborate with some very talented singer/songwriters and hone her craft.

Now, she combines her passion for music with her job in Ros FM, where she presents three different shows every week, one on current affairs, another focusing on live music and personal stories, and the third focusing on archaeology. Thoroughly enjoying broadcasting and being able to promote Irish music on the station, Ciara said she has met “fascinating people” along the way. She also does some floristry part-time.

In her own words, her sound is contemporary folk which has drawn comparisons to the likes of Kate Bush, a major influence along with the likes of Joni Mitchell and Florence Welsh.

Already working on a second album, Ciara is looking forward to busy few months to come, with a performance of her song at Miss Earth Ireland pageant in the G Hotel in Galway to look forward to, and on Father's Day on June 18 she' ll release a special online video with two actors playing out the story of her debut single which was recorded in the Blue Room Studio in Sligo.

Looking to the future, Ciara wants to continue marry her music and gigs with her radio work, and eventually her hope would be to transition to music full-time.