Alison O'Donnell (born 5 October 1952) is an Irish musician, solo and band singer-songwriter. Born Alison Bools in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

to an English mother and Irish father, raised in

Dalkey Dalkey ( ; ) is a village in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown county southeast of Dublin, Ireland. It was founded as a Viking settlement and became a port in the Middle Ages. According to chronicler John Clyn (c.1286–c.1349), it was one of the port ...

and educated at Holy Child Killiney.

Biography

Childhood

O'Donnell grew up in Dalkey and Killiney in south County Dublin, where she had a daily view of

Dalkey Island Dalkey Island ( ) () is an island for which the nearby village of Dalkey is named ( meaning "thorn island", with ''ey'' the Old Norse (Viking) version of "island"). It is an uninhabited island located in the county of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, ...

(which was to provide inspiration for song writing in her teens and early 20s). Ballet and sporting activities were early interests until the age of 11 when music became her abiding passion. Her commitment was sealed when she took

Cecilia Cecilia is a personal name originating in the name of Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of music. History The name has been popularly used in Europe (particularly the United Kingdom and Italy, where in 2018 it was the 43rd most popular name for g ...

as her

Confirmation name In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. The ceremony typically involves laying on of hands. Catholicis ...

(

Saint Cecilia Saint Cecilia (), also spelled Cecelia, was a Roman Christian virgin martyr, who is venerated in Catholic, Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox, Anglican Communion, Anglican, and some Lutheran churches, such as the Church of Sweden. She became the ...

being the

Patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

of musicians). At the age of 11 she co-founded the progressive

folk rock Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music re ...

band

Mellow Candle Mellow Candle was an Irish Progressive folk music, progressive folk rock band (music), band, active from 1968 to 1973. They released one studio album, ''Swaddling Songs'', in 1972. A collection of demos and sessions for the album, recorded 1969� ...

with school friends

Clodagh Simonds Clodagh Simonds ( ; born 16 May 1953) is an Irish musician, songwriter and singer. She was born in Banbridge, County Down, Northern Ireland and raised and educated in Killiney, County Dublin. Career At the age of eleven, in 1964 Simonds forme ...

and Maria White. They released their first single, ''Feeling High'' on SNB Records (

Simon Napier-Bell Simon Robert Napier-Bell (born 22 April 1939) is an English record producer, music manager, author and journalist. At different times, he has managed artists as diverse as the Yardbirds, John's Children, Marc Bolan, Japan, London, Sinéad O'Co ...

) in 1968.

Early career

On leaving school, O'Donnell attended Art College in

Dún Laoghaire Dún Laoghaire ( , ) is a suburban coastal town in County Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. The town was built up alongside a small existing settlement following 1816 legislation th ...

(now

Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology (), more commonly known as IADT Dún Laoghaire or simply IADT is an institute of technology with a focus on art and design located in Deansgrange near Dún Laoghaire, Ireland. It was esta ...

) and briefly joined Blue Tint, a covers band, where she met her first husband, guitarist Dave Williams, who was studying at

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 ...

. This was followed by a secretarial course and employment until a full electric line-up of Mellow Candle reformed. The band lived and worked in Ireland and England between 1969 and 1973 managed by

Thin Lizzy Thin Lizzy are an Irish rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. The band initially consisted of bass guitarist, lead vocalist and principal songwriter Phil Lynott, drummer Brian Downey, guitarist Eric Bell and organist Eric Wrixon although Wr ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

, Ted Carroll. O'Donnell and Williams spent their wedding evening in concert with Thin Lizzy at the

National Stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football ...

in Dublin.

Bob Geldof Robert Frederick Zenon Geldof (; born 5 October 1951) is an Irish singer-songwriter and political activist. He rose to prominence in the late 1970s as the lead singer of the Irish rock band the Boomtown Rats, who achieved popularity as part ...

Luke Kelly Luke Kelly (17 November 1940 – 30 January 1984) was an Irish singer, folk musician and actor from Dublin, Ireland. Born into a working-class household in Dublin city, Kelly moved to England in his late teens and by his early 20s had become ...

and members of

Clannad Clannad () were an Irish band formed in 1970 in Gweedore, County Donegal, by siblings , and (Moya) (in English, Brennan) and their twin uncles Noel and (Duggan). They have adopted various musical styles throughout their history. Beginn ...

were amongst early spectators at Irish concerts, and several members of the group participated in house sessions with pioneering traditional musicians,

Dónal Lunny Dónal Lunny (born 10 March 1947) is an Irish folk musician and producer. He plays guitar and bouzouki, as well as keyboards and bodhrán. As a founding member of popular bands Planxty, The Bothy Band, Moving Hearts, Coolfin, Mozaik, LAPD ...

and Andy Irvine. The band released their latterly highly acclaimed,

cult Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ...

album, ''

Swaddling Songs ''Swaddling Songs'' is the only studio album by Irish progressive folk rock band Mellow Candle, originally released in 1972 by Deram Records. Commercially unsuccessful at the time of release, ''Swaddling Songs'' has since received critical acc ...

'' on

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

's Deram subsidiary in 1972. The untimely and unhappy demise of Mellow Candle and the tough economic climate of the

Three-Day Week The Three-Day Week was one of several measures introduced in the United Kingdom in 1973–1974 by Edward Heath's Conservative government to conserve electricity, the generation of which was severely restricted owing to industrial action by coal ...

in 1973/74 London sent O'Donnell and Williams to

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, South Africa. Simonds and Murray ultimately went to New York, and Boylan joined The Gary Moore Band for a time. In the year before their departure they played Belgian bars as a folk duo and formed a short-lived band with guitarist

Jimmy Faulkner Jimmy Faulkner (31 January 1950 – 4 March 2008) was one of Ireland's top guitarists, who in a four-decade career played with many of Ireland's leading rock and roll, blues, folk and jazz musicians. He was born in Dolphin's Barn, Dublin to a m ...

, who died in 2008. Disenchanted by hard drug use backstage, they abandoned the project. Two years after their arrival in South Africa the couple participated in ''Palet'', an

Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

music and poetry programme in 1976 for the fledgling

South African Broadcasting Corporation The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is the public broadcaster in South Africa, and provides 19 radio stations (Amplitude modulation, AM/Frequency modulation, FM) as well as 6 television broadcasts and 3 OTT Services to the general ...

's television service. The show was considered too radical and highbrow, and never aired, resulting in the producer's resignation. They formed traditional group Flibbertigibbet in 1977 with Barrie Glenn and Jo Dudding whom they met at Mangles Folk Club. The band recorded their

vinyl album A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English) or a vinyl record (for later varieties only) is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The gro ...

, '' Whistling Jigs to the Moon'' in 1978 in South Africa for a slim, niche market, and made several appearances on SATV. The recording was more fully appreciated and reissued in 1996. After the break-up of Flibbertigibbet in 1979 O'Donnell worked as a

session singer A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a record ...

for singer-songwriters and advertising agency recordings, toured in the musical '' I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking It on the Road'' produced by Des and Dawn Lindberg, and performed in a series of satirical revues in 1980/81 with South African actors and musicians: ''Tortue Revues I'' and ''II'' in Rockey Street's famed 80s clubs, and ''Fool Marks'' and ''Commit No Nuisance'' at the

Chelsea Hotel The Hotel Chelsea (also known as the Chelsea Hotel and the Chelsea) is a hotel at 222 West 23rd Street (Manhattan), 23rd Street in the Chelsea, Manhattan, Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. Built between 1883 and 1884, the hot ...

Hillbrow Hillbrow () is an inner city residential neighbourhood of Johannesburg, Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is known for its high levels of population density, unemployment, poverty, prostitution and crime. It had a large and active Jewish commun ...

with music by

David Marks David Lee Marks (born August 22, 1948) is an American guitarist who was an early member of the Beach Boys. While growing up in Hawthorne, California, Marks was a neighborhood friend of the original band members and was a frequent participant at t ...

(songwriter, producer and archivist), who had earlier given Flibbertigibbet their first run at The Market Theatre in Johannesburg. In the early to mid-80s O'Donnell appeared briefly with jazz group

Theta Theta (, ) uppercase Θ or ; lowercase θ or ; ''thē̂ta'' ; Modern: ''thī́ta'' ) is the eighth letter of the Greek alphabet, derived from the Phoenician letter Teth 𐤈. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 9. Gree ...

and an early incarnation of the popular rock group '' Ella Mental'' at Sun City. She recorded an album with writer/producer Terry Dempsey's band, Plastik Mak, which included his hit song '' Daydreamer'' and performed in after-show

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...

with musician/actress Michelle Maxwell and on the folk club stage with

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

/folk guitarist Mike Dickman. She also appeared regularly with singer-songwriters Colin Shamley and Roger Lucey, guesting on their respective albums. During this period she assisted in running the door for Club Le Chaim, which featured musicians opposed to the

Apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

regime. In the year before she departed Johannesburg for London in early 1986, O'Donnell co-wrote the repertoire and performed with contemporary jazz group '' Earthlings at night''. By day she worked for South African Associated Newspapers, which at that time included '' The Rand Daily Mail'' and ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

''.

Later music career

Between 1986 and 1996 O'Donnell worked in

public sector The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, pu ...

administration in London. At this time interest in Mellow Candle was gathering pace. The pre-drums demos were released as '' The Virgin Prophet'' and the re-mastered ''

'' has been reissued on

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...

and CD regularly since then. In 2006 a

Mojo magazine ''Mojo'' (stylised in all caps) is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom, initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer. Following the success of the magazine '' Q'', publishers Emap were looking for a title that ...

poll ''Beyond Folk'' the group was listed in the top 50 genre-bending folk classics of the last forty years. The band features in a number of Top Ten lists in '' Galactic Ramble'' (a complete study of 60s and 70s music in the UK). Tracks are regularly licensed out to compilations, amongst them, O'Donnell's ''Messenger Birds'' for ''The Story of British Folk'' (a double CD collection covering

British folk music Throughout the history of the British Isles, the land that is now the United Kingdom has been a major music producer, drawing inspiration from church music and traditional folk music, using instruments from England, Scotland, Northern Irelan ...

from the early 60s to modern day contemporaries), the co-written ''Sheep Season'' on ''Early Morning Hush'', ''Notes from the Folk Underground'' 1969–1976, and ''Heaven Heath'' on ''Legends of Ireland''. In 2007 an original vinyl copy of ''Swaddling Songs'' sold to a Canadian

eBay eBay Inc. ( , often stylized as ebay) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that allows users to buy or view items via retail sales through online marketplaces and websites in 190 markets worldwide. ...

bidder for $2,650. In 1997 after leaving an administrative post with the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

, O'Donnell moved to

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, working with jazz and folk musicians, in

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment, generally combining gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or ...

, and giving voice coaching lessons and workshops. O'Donnell's own vocal training had included a period at the

Leinster School of Music & Drama The Leinster School of Music & Drama, in Dublin, Ireland, provides tuition and examinations in music and drama throughout Ireland. ''"She beckoned to him with her finger like one preparing a certificate in pianoforte...at the Leinster School o ...

in Dublin in her teens, in Johannesburg during the mid-1970s for a six-month period with a teacher specialising in

syncopation In music, syncopation is a variety of rhythms played together to make a piece of music, making part or all of a tune or piece of music off-beat (music), off-beat. More simply, syncopation is "a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of ...

, and a further three months with a former

opera singer Opera is a form of Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a lib ...

. Traditional group Éishtlinn was formed by O'Donnell with

Flemish Flemish may refer to: * Flemish, adjective for Flanders, Belgium * Flemish region, one of the three regions of Belgium *Flemish Community, one of the three constitutionally defined language communities of Belgium * Flemish dialects, a Dutch dialec ...

guitarist Philip Masure in 1998. The band played in Belgium, France, Luxembourg and the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, releasing the album, '' Éist Linn'' in 2001. O'Donnell returned to Ireland in 2001 but continued to work with three Flemish women singers in French,

and English in the band Oeda, which came joint second in the nationwide Belgian band competition Nekka-contest 2001–2002. Soetkin Collier, of Oeda, is more frequently associated with the Belgian folk group Urban Trad, who finished second in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2003 The Eurovision Song Contest 2003 was the 48th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Riga, Latvia, following the country's victory at the with the song " I Wanna" by Marie N. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) ...

. O'Donnell's repatriation after 28 years away from the Irish music scene meant that she had to embark on a steep learning curve. She sings and plays

bodhrán The bodhrán (, ; plural ''bodhráin'') is a frame drum used in Irish music ranging from in diameter, with most drums measuring . The sides of the drum are deep. A Goatskin (material), goatskin head is tacked to one side (synthetic heads or ot ...

in sessions, festivals, gigs and charity events in Ireland and abroad, mostly collaborating with other artists. O'Donnell and a male entrant won a medal each for a "Newly Composed Song in English" at the Dublin Fleadh in 2004, they being the only two entrants in the category that year. Aside from her concert repertoire of original psych folk and trad rock songs, she has a wide repertoire of traditional, folk and jazz songs. She is a member of An Góilín (a traditional singers' club) TAC (Traditional Arts Collective) and was part of the Howth Singing Circle. With instrumentalist Isabel Ní Chuireáin, she released the album '' Mise agus Ise'' in 2006. From 2007 there were collaborations and contributions to recordings with Dave Colohan of Agitated Radio Pilot, Canadian psych folk band, Mr. Pine,

Colin Harper Colin Harper (born 1968, in Belfast) is an Irish non-fiction author and composer. Background Harper was born in Belfast and graduated in Modern History 1989 from Queen's University, Belfast, later acquiring a postgraduate diploma in Information ...

's collective The Field Mouse conspiracy and '' The Guessing Game,'' the 9th album from the

Doom metal Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...

band

Cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

. In 2008 O'Donnell featured on a vinyl double A-Side single of

Nick Drake Nicholas Rodney Drake (19 June 1948 – 25 November 1974) was an English singer-songwriter and musician. An accomplished acoustic guitarist, Drake signed to Island Records at the age of twenty while still a student at the University of Cambridg ...

's '' Day is Done'' and

Nico Christa Päffgen (; 16 October 1938 – 18 July 1988), known by her stage name Nico, was a German singer, songwriter, actress, and model. Nico had roles in several films, including Federico Fellini's '' La Dolce Vita'' (1960) and Andy Warhol's ...

's ''Frozen Warnings'' with Graeme Lockett of Head South By Weaving and an EP, The Fabric of Folk, with

The Owl Service ''The Owl Service'' is a low fantasy novel for young adults by Alan Garner, published by Collins in 1967. Set in modern Wales, it is an adaptation of the story of the mythical Welsh woman Blodeuwedd, an "expression of the myth" in the autho ...

. They appeared together at the

Green Man Festival The Green Man Festival is an independent music, science and arts festival held annually in mid-August in the Brecon Beacons, Wales. Green Man has evolved into a 25,000 capacity week long event, showcasing predominantly live music (in particular ...

. O'Donnell and Steven Collins of The Owl Service have collaborated regularly, including on several tracks for her first solo album, '' Hey Hey Hippy Witch'', released in 2010. Other contributors and collaborators on this project are Michael Tyack of the psychedelic folk rock band Circulus, Kevin Scott of Mr. Pine, Head South By Weaving and Gavin Prior and Dave Colohan of United Bible Studies. In 2008 O'Donnell became a member of United Bible Studies, an experimental psych folk collective which draws on students from a number of countries and has contributed to a prolific output of albums and recording projects since that time. She contributed to their 2009 album The Jonah and a UBS/

Jozef Van Wissem Jozef van Wissem (born 22 November 1962) is a Dutch minimalist composer and lute player In 2013 Van Wissem won the Cannes Soundtrack Award for the score of '' Only Lovers Left Alive'' at the Cannes Film Festival. Career Jozef van Wissem was b ...

vinyl album, ''Downland'', in 2011. O'Donnell is known for her enthusiastic and varied collaborations. Recent work includes Bajik, a live band playing new and recent O'Donnell material formed in 2010, headlining at their maiden concert in Spain at the Datura Folk Festival, a contribution to the album '' Towards Abstraction'' by Big Dwarf, a contemporary electronic psychedelic band and a joint album with Head South By Weaving, '' The Execution of Frederick Baker,'' both in 2013. Between 2014 and 2015 there has also been a CD and vinyl release with Firefay, British folk noir group. She appeared on the TV documentary '' Phil Lynott: Scéalta Ón Old Town'', about the making of

Phil Lynott Philip Parris Lynott (, ; 20 August 1949 – 4 January 1986) was an Irish musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the co-founder, lead vocalist, bassist, and primary songwriter for the hard rock band Thin Lizzy. He was known for his distinctive ...

's music video for the 1982 song

Old Town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins. In some cases, newer developments on t ...

, first broadcast on

RTÉ One RTÉ One is an Irish free-to-air flagship television channel owned and operated by RTÉ. It is the most-popular and most-watched television channel in the country and was launched as ''Telefís Éireann'' on 31 December 1961, it was renamed ''R ...

on 30 December 2018. In February 2024, she featured in the

BBC Two Northern Ireland BBC Two Northern Ireland is a Northern Irish free-to-air television channel owned and operated by BBC Northern Ireland as a variation of the BBC Two network. It is broadcast via digital terrestrial transmitters and from the SES Astra 2E satell ...

documentary ''"Legends of Harper"'', about Belfast author, musician, songwriter and composer

, with whom she has been a long-time collaborator.

Personal life

O'Donnell married Dave Williams in January 1972 in Dublin and Ian Brower in Johannesburg in January 1986. She has one daughter, Kate Brower, born London 1988. O'Donnell has worked under her mother's maiden name since 1980. O'Donnell developed an interest in

Genealogy Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kin ...

in 1996, working extensively on her

family tree A family tree, also called a genealogy or a pedigree chart, is a chart representing family relationships in a conventional tree structure. More detailed family trees, used in medicine and social work, are known as genograms. Representations of ...

. This led to an appearance in the

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

documentary series ''

Family Ties ''Family Ties'' is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC for seven seasons, premiering on September 22, 1982, and concluding on May 14, 1989. The series, created by Gary David Goldberg, reflected the social shift in the United Stat ...

'' (a precursor to '' Who Do You Think You Are?'') in 2004. The programme focused on her grandmother Nina, a singer who, long after her death, was revealed to be a secret

bigamist In a culture where only monogamous relationships are legally recognized, bigamy is the act of entering into a marriage with one person while still legally married to another. A legal or de facto separation of the couple does not alter their mari ...

with another family living in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

(the two branches of the family are now in contact). O'Donnell's musical heritage hails from her English maternal granny, Irish great-grandfather Peter, and her grandfather P.S.G. O'Donnell and his two brothers Rudolph Peter and

Bertram Walton Bertram may refer to: Places *Bertram, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth, Australia *Bertram, Iowa, United States, a city *Bertram, Texas, United States, a city *Bertram Glacier, Palmer Land, Antarctica Other uses *Bertram (name), a list of peo ...

, military musicians with distinguished careers with the

Royal Marines Band Service The Royal Marines Band Service is the musical wing of the Royal Navy and an independent element of the Royal Marines. It currently consists of five Military band, bands plus a training wing – the Royal Marines School of Music at HMNB Portsmout ...

during the first half of the twentieth century. O'Donnell is an animal-lover, particularly of cats and dogs. She lives in Dublin.

Discography

Albums

* ''

'' –

, 1972 (Deram SDL 7) * ''Whistling Jigs to the Moon'' – Flibbertigibbet, 1978 (Stanyan 3EE 7002) * ''Love Connection'' – Plastik Mak, 1980 (Flash Records FL 1001) * ''The Virgin Prophet'' – Mellow Candle, 1996 (Unreleased sessions 1969–1970, Kissing Spell KSCD 9520-F) * ''My Lagan Love'' – Flibbertigibbet, 1998 (live/demos Kissing Spell KSCD 902) * ''Éist Linn'' – Éishtlinn, 2001 (Spiral SCD 925) * ''Mise agus Ise'' – Alison O'Donnell & Isabel Ní Chuireáin, 2006 (Osmosys CD 033) * ''The Jonah'' – United Bible Studies, 2009 (Camera Obscura CAM 084CD) * ''Hey Hey Hippy Witch'' – Alison O'Donnell, 2010 (Floating World FREEM5021) * ''Downland'' – United Bible Studies & Jozef Van Wissem, 2010 (Deserted Village/Incunabulum) * ''The Execution of Frederick Baker'' – Head South By Weaving & Alison O'Donnell, 2012/13 (Ritual Echo Records rerLP007) (Vinyl/CD) * ''Doineann'' – United Bible Studies, 2014 (A Year in the Country) * ''Box Social (live 2009)'' – United Bible Studies, 2014 (Reverb Worship) * ''Anointed Queen'' – Firefay & Alison O'Donnell, 2014 on CD (Stonetape Recordings) and 2015 on vinyl (Golden Pavilion) * ''So As To Preserve The Mystery'' – United Bible Studies, 2015 (Deep Water) * ''The Ale's What Cures Ye'' – United Bible Studies, 2015 (MIE) * ''Soregh, Murne & Fast'' – United Bible Studies, 2015 * ''Rosary Bleeds'' – United Bible Studies, 2016 (Golden Pavilion) * ''Climb Sheer The Fields Of Peace'' – Alison O'Donnell, 2017 (Mega Dodo) * ''Exotic Masks and Sensible Shoes'' – Alison O'Donnell, 2019 (Freeworld)Exotic Masks and Sensible Shoes - Bandcamp.com
/ref>

Singles

* ''Feeling High/Tea with the Sun'' – Mellow Candle, 1968 (SNB 55–3645) * ''Dan the Wing'' – Mellow Candle, 1972 (Deram DM 357) * ''Mariner Blues'' – Flibbertigibbet, 1978 (Stanyan Records 3EE 7002) * ''Blackberry Bush'' – Flibbertigibbet, 1978 (Stanyan 3ES 703) * ''Love Connection'' – Plastik Mak, 1980 (Flash Records FLS 001) * ''Let the Bad Times Roll'' – The Medium Wave Band, 1982 (3rd Ear Music 3EE 7007) * ''Frozen Warnings/Day is Done'' – Alison O'Donnell with Head South By Weaving, 2008 (

Fruits de Mer Records Fruits de Mer Records is a British independent record label based in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England, established by Keith Jones and Andy Bracken in 2008. It releases psychedelic rock, psychedelic folk, folk rock, space rock and krautrock mu ...

, Crustacean 03)

EPs

* ''The Fabric of Folk'' –

and Alison O'Donnell, 2008 (Static Caravan Recordings VAN 142). (redux edition), reissue EP, SPC 2015

Guest appearances

* ''The Road is Much Longer'' – Roger Lucey, 1979 (3rd Ear Records 3EE7004) * ''World Winding Down'' (Double Album) – Agitated Radio Pilot, 2007 (deadslackstring records Truenote 10) * ''Freedom and the Dream Penguin'' – The Field Mouse Conspiracy, 2008 (WMNY Recordings CD 039) * ''Rewilding'' – Mr. Pine, 2008 (Whiskey Lad Recordings 78632 90223) * ''The View From a Hill'' – The Owl Service, 2010 (Rif Mountain RM-004) * '' The Guessing Game'' –

, 2010 (Nuclear Blast 27361 22760) * ''Towards Abstraction'' – Big Dwarf, 2013 (Ajar Records) * ''Derring Do'' – Dodson and Fogg, 2013 (Wisdom Twins Records) * ''The Flooers O' The Forest, Songs and music of

Flodden The Battle of Flodden, Flodden Field, or occasionally Branxton or Brainston Moor was fought on 9 September 1513 during the War of the League of Cambrai between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland and resulted in an English victory ...

1513–2013 Five Hundredth Anniversary'' (Compilation), 2013 ( Greentrax Recordings) (Flodden Field from the EP ''The Fabric of Folk'') *''Plankton – A Fruits de Mer Collection'', 2013 (

Record Collector ''Record Collector'' is a British monthly music magazine focussing on rare and collectable records, and the bands who recorded them. It was founded in September 1979 and distributes worldwide. It is promoted as "the world’s leading authority o ...

) (vinyl) *''After the Fall'' – Dodson and Fogg, 2014 (Wisdom Twins Records) *''Songs from the Black Meadow'' (Compilation), 2014 (Black Meadow Song) and 2016 (Mega Dodo) *''Last Night I Dreamt of Hibrihteselle'' –

Richard Moult Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and ...

, 2015 (Wild Silence) *''Sjoraust'' – Richard Moult, 2016 (Second Language)

References

External links

Alison O'Donnell – Official Website

Alison O'Donnell's MySpace page

Mellow Candle on MySpace

I Love Dalkey.com

An Góilín – Traditional Singer's Club

3rd Ear Music
*
Places By Music Together Featuring Alison O'Donnell
musictown.ie
YouTube video

The Frank Harte Festival Virtual Traditional Singing Tour 2020
itma.ie
on YouTube
Alison O'Donnell featured at 44 mins)
Swaddling Songs at 50 , The Lyric Feature
50 year anniversary documentary celebrating Mellow Candle, on

RTÉ lyric fm RTÉ Lyric FM (stylised as RTÉ lyric fm) is an Irish classical music, jazz and arts radio station, owned and operated by RTÉ. The station, which is based in Limerick, was launched in 1999 and is available on 96-99 FM throughout Ireland (in ...

(June 2022). {{DEFAULTSORT:Odonnell, Alison 1952 births Living people Irish women rock singers Irish rock singers Irish folk singers Irish women folk singers Irish jazz singers Irish women jazz singers Musicians from County Dublin People from Dalkey Mellow Candle members People educated at Holy Child Killiney Fruits de Mer Records artists