S3E2: Helen McNamara O'Shea, Healer at Heart.

10/27/22 • 63 min

In this episode, Helen McNamara O'Shea tells us of the brave leap she made from a career as an accomplished doctor to that of a singer/songwriter. Given that Helen describes herself as 'ancient', which she is not by any means, it seemed, on the face of things, a switch that didn't make a whole lot of sense.
But that's on the face of things, because both careers, to Helen, have something fundamental in common. Healing.
And that's what Helen is at heart, a healer. She just does it now through the power of music, no longer through the power of medicine.
Follow along as Helen tells us of her remarkable upbringing in Ireland, her life in Montreal and in New Jersey. And how she got the spiritual permission she needed, from a hugely important person in her life, to follow a passion that had long been locked away, and the pivotal moment where it all came together.
And what's with the long name? We'll let Helen tell you that story too.
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You can help Helen produce her first a cappella album, about grief for the grieving, by contributing to her crowdfunding campaign.
And a thanks to our centerpiece, Helen herself, for her songs heard in this episode, some of which are cover versions. Here they are in order, and the albums they appear on, where applicable:

Someone Is Waiting (from Know You're Enough)
Hey Darlin' (from Know You're Enough)
Cover Me Up (from Know You're Enough)
Stay Here Now (from Know You're Enough)
The Hereafter (with Jude Johnstone)
Simple Man (from Mama Told You)
Moments (from Mama Told You)
Fairytale of New York (with Mike Montrey)
Prinetime (from Know You're Enough)
For Me And You (for Cornelia)

and

Beautiful You (with Yancyabril)

You can hear all of Helen's music on Spotify. Search under Helen O'Shea.
A great big Thank You (a veritable Go Raibh Míle Maith Agat) to MacDara Ó Conaola for allowing us to use his recording of Céibh Chill Rónáin which demonstrates the ancient Gaelic art of Sean-nós singing. MacDara's music in general can be found here:
The Love Token by Macdara on Amazon Music Unlimited

and you can follow MacDara on Twitter @MacDaraMusic

A special shout out to Lochlainn Harte, Imaging Manager at Newstalk Radio, for extra, top class, professional sound editing.
Thanks to Purple-Planet for Intro/Outro music, and to FreeSound for the sound FX.
Check out the Celtic Irish American Academy. Support its work by donating (in USD $, with tax exemption benefits) here: CIAA Scholastic.
W: CenterPieceNY.com. Ratings & reviews here.
FaceBook/Twitter: @CenterPieceNY

Someone Is Waiting (from Know You're Enough)
Hey Darlin' (from Know You're Enough)
Cover Me Up (from Know You're Enough)
Stay Here Now (from Know You're Enough)
The Hereafter (with Jude Johnstone)
Simple Man (from Mama Told You)
Moments (from Mama Told You)
Fairytale of New York (with Mike Montrey)
Prinetime (from Know You're Enough)
For Me And You (for Cornelia)

and

Beautiful You (with Yancyabril)

and you can follow MacDara on Twitter @MacDaraMusic

Previous Episode

S3E1: Donie Carroll, A Song of Freedom.

County Cork, on Ireland's southern shore, is its biggest county, bigger than all the rest, all thirty one of them. Corkonians, as the people of Cork are known, are intensely proud of their heritage. They often claim, in all sincerity, that Cork City, not Dublin, is the true capital of Ireland. And they might be right. One need only ask the British about their experiences dealing with 'the rebel county'.
By the time the centerpiece of this episode, musician and singer Donie Carroll, left his native Cork for New York, he'd already experienced many twists and turns on the botharín* of life, including a plunge with alcoholism to the depths of despair, before rising again on the crest of the freedom that sobriety has given him.
But sobriety is no guarantee of a 'happy ever after', and even this year alone Donie has faced down further challenges, including the loss of his good friends John Browne, and music man Mick Moloney.
But through all the ups and downs of his life, music has been his sweetest friend.
This episode will also school you in the Cork accent, which, if you're not familiar with it, is as unique in the basket of Irish accents as Corkonians are among the Irish people.
*boreen in English.
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More info:

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Many thanks to our centerpiece, Donie Carroll himself, for his music heard in this episode. Here are those tracks in order, and the albums they appear on:

The Cottage By The Lee ( from Down The Slippery Gap )
The Night the Goat Broke Loose on Grand Parade (Down The Slippery Gap )
The Army of Today's All Right (Divil of a Noise–contains De Valera speech excerpt)
Beautiful Dreamer (Down The Slippery Gap )
Up The Coal Quay (Down The Slippery Gap )
Are Ya Right There, Michael? (Divil of a Noise,with Mick Moloney )
Off to Philadelphia (Divil of a Noise, with Mick Moloney )

and

If I Were a Blackbird (live recording, in Donie's home. )

A special shout out to Lochlainn Harte, Imaging Manager at Newstalk Radio, for extra, top class, professional sound editing.
Thanks to Purple-Planet for Intro/Outro music, and to FreeSound for both music & sound FX.
Check out the Celtic Irish American Academy. Support its work by donating (in USD $, with tax exemption benefits) here: CIAA Scholastic.
W: CenterPieceNY.com. Ratings & reviews here.
FaceBook/Twitter: @CenterPieceNY

Next Episode

S3E3: Ray O'Hanlon, Stringer of Pearls

Ray O'Hanlon is a long-standing journalist, author and editor of the weekly Irish Echo news service, which has been a pillar of the Irish American identity since 1928. That's a stretch coming up on 95 years, and Ray has been with the Echo for more than one third of that time!
Ray sees his work as stringing together elements, pearls he calls them, of larger stories, creating a broader context that transcends any particular incident or era. It can be said he has been the string itself, defining and chronicling enormous changes among the Irish in American, and their profound impact on Ireland too, these past decades, bringing all these pearls into proper alignment.
Coming to New York after seven years with the Irish Press in Dublin, Ray's work has placed him where it mattered when it came to the political turmoil and The Troubles in 1980's Ireland, the US impact on the Irish peace process, and the ongoing saga of US immigration law as it pertains to the Irish.
He has crossed paths with many influencers, from Charlie Haughey to Bill Clinton, leaving him with plenty of tales of his own. More recently he has authored Unintended Consequences–Irish US immigration, and how America's door was closed to the Irish.

Further Research
During this episode Ray makes reference to several historic situations, entities and people. Here are some links for further reading and research:

The Irish Echo
The Irish Press
Éamon De Valera
Charles Haughey
GUBU, and the 2013 TV 3 Documentary: Part I / Part II
Presidential Irish Forum 1992 - C-Span Archive
Gerry Adams
David Dinkins
Irish Peace Process
The Morrison Visas

The wonderful Wikipedia continues to be our primary source for research... give them your support!
Thanks to Purple-Planet for Intro/Outro music, and to FreeSound for the sound FX, and some music too! (And a shout-out to Frank Zappa–we couldn't resist!)
Check out the Celtic Irish American Academy. Support its work by donating (in USD $, with tax exemption benefits) here: CIAA Scholastic.
A special shout out to Lochlainn Harte, Imaging Manager at Newstalk Radio, for extra, top class, audio editing.