Local musician takes big step forward with concert performance

Singer-songwriter Ellen O'Meara from Mount Temple has made a stir in the music world recently after being selected by Aoife Scott, Frances Black's daughter, to perform at the Women of Note concert in Dublin.

Ellen said the concert was the first big performance she's done. At the Women of Note concert held in St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin on Wednesday, January 15, a number of women were invited to perform and to discuss their experiences with music. “We talked about what we write about. It was based around women's issues and the importance of women's representation in trad,” Ellen, who performed two self-penned songs at the event, explained.

Women of Note in association with TradFest Temple Bar is curated and presented by Aoife Scott and celebrates artists that come from diverse backgrounds and culture while highlighting the rich talent of Irish trad and folk performers.

Aoife Scott, herself a folk singer, discovered Ellen on Tik-Tok when she was searching for up and coming Irish talent with the hashtag #singersongwriter. Ellen explained: “She found me on Tik-Tok and asked me to perform at Tradfest (Women of Note.) It was unreal. It was really random and kind of serendipitous. I'm hoping to get a few more gigs from that.”

Speaking about the experience performing in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Ellen said that it wasn't nerve-wracking as a sense of calm came over her once she was on stage.

The former Moate Community School student saidshe had always sung in choirs but only got the courage to start writing music and performing on social media during lockdown after experiencing a bad breakup.

Ellen was on the Erasmus programme in Maastricht in The Netherlands at the time and began writing songs and poetry following her breakup. She performed at a few intimate gigs for open mic nights whilst studying abroad.

Following this, the Dublin-based woman started posting videos of herself singing and playing music on Instagram and Tik-Tok during the pandemic. She explained: “There was very little to do social wise (during lockdown) other than sing.”

Describing her music as “folk-indie”, Ellen added that she gets inspiration from the likes of Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Phoebe Bridgers, John Waite and The National.

“I try to write from my own experiences. It sounds more authentic,” Ellen explained. She writes about topics such as heartbreak, society’s unrealistic beauty standards, and existential crises along with providing a social commentary for the younger generation on various societal issues such as homelessness and emigration.

Ellen originally started posting videos of herself performing her own music on Instagram before deciding to migrate to Tik-Tok as the app is more anonymous and suitable for sharing music content. She said: “You can post one thing and get really big. I did one song and it blew up a bit.”

The Tik-Tok in question sees Ellen performing her own rewrite of 'Complex,' a song by Katie Gregson-MacLeod. The video has received almost 700,000 views and over 100,000 likes to date.

Ellen concluded: “It's nice to get positive feedback. I want to get more gigs and to get out there more. I love making music. She added that to have people tell her that they enjoy her music is great.

“I like writing songs about social issues that are important. I won UCC Singer-songwriter of the year competition last year.” That was the first time Ellen performed for an audience at the competition in UCC.

Ellen is hoping to release a new song on Spotify with the working title 'Stream of Consciousness' in the coming months about an existential crisis she experienced herself. The young musician said she still has to mix the track and promote the song before its release.

Ellen is the daughter of Athlonians Anne Russell and Paul O'Meara. She works as a project worker for the Peter McVerry Trust. She works with 17 men who live in the centre and helps them to find supports, to avail of counselling and to get into detox and addiction centres. She graduated with a degree in Public Health Sciences from UCC in 2022 and worked in contact tracing for the HSE for a year and a half in Cork.