Meet the girls of Biird - a brand new female trad musician supergroup

15 hours ago 6

I have been putting this band together for over a decade.

Biird is a brand new supergroup made up of 11 of Ireland’s finest young traditional Irish musicians, singers, dancers and lilters. Over the past ten years I’ve been plucking these little gems from festivals, social media and corners of house parties and pulling them together to make Biird. I didn’t start out with having 11 members, but it slowly progressed to that. They are incredible young female musicians who are not only great players and advocates of traditional Irish music but they also have their own style and unique personalities.

One of the main objectives for Biird was to change the image of women in folk and trad music.

A lot of us have spent time on the road with Irish touring shows and the image is very similar across the board. It’s either Rose of Tralee style gúnas or skimpy sequin dresses. That style hasn’t really been updated and these shows are the biggest representation of Irish music and Irish women across the world. But the difference between this image and the actual reality is stark. There are incredible Irish musicians on the scene who are dressed like superstars and have their own personalities and style, but that isn’t being celebrated in the way it should.

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These 11 girls all have their own things going on outside of the band.

They’re entrepreneurs, teachers, activists and designers and they’ve a lot to give in terms of promoting Irish culture across the world.

I’m different from a lot of the girls in the group because I did not grow up in a traditional Irish music family.

A lot of the girls have a rich family history of playing trad music. I was going to my weekly classes but there was no music at home. I listened to the Spice Girls and jumped around pretending to be Scary Spice. I was as drawn to that pop world as I was to folk and I noticed a big difference in female representation between the two worlds. As a young girl, I idolised the Spice Girls and how they each had their individual thing going on, and I saw there was a huge gap for something like that in traditional Irish music.

When I first thought of the idea for Biird, I envisioned a five piece girl band, but I just couldn’t stop finding all these gems. We had 14 at one point before Covid and then for different reasons like travel, marriage and pregnancies, we ended up with 11. Looking back now it’s exactly what was supposed to happen.

11 women on stage is very powerful.

There is a lot of divine feminine energy and it feels special. To see a group that is the size of a usual céilí band but dressed like nothing people have seen before is very impactful. It sets us apart.

I had a lot of nerves and uncertainty about bringing 11 girls together.

The beauty and the beast of bringing that many of us together is that there are 11 superstars or main characters together. A lot of people thought that couldn’t work but we are proof that it can. There is huge mutual respect between us all and we’re really good communicators. There haven’t been any major issues yet.

Our biggest challenge is scheduling time together.

We’ve had to approach Biird differently to other projects. It means having music prep demoed and sent out to everyone well in advance. We don’t have the luxury of just getting together and seeing what happens.

We have a collective of Biirds that aren’t part of the core group who can step in if needed.

The collective is a way of keeping Biird going with the same energy and in the way we want. If people can’t do a gig, it doesn’t mean they are out of the group or that they have to sacrifice something big in their lives. The reality of us being an all female group is there will be times people might want to take maternity leave or focus on something else for a while. The big issue facing women in music is we have to make a decision between one or the other. With Biird, we’re trying to create a space where that isn’t the case. It’s a collective and it will change and morph into different line-ups over the years to allow people to do all the things they want to do in their lives and still be able to come back to Biird. We have plans to create different line-ups all over the world, maybe in different genres and different cultures.

A huge part of the group is showcasing the other talents of the members.

Ciara is the most incredible designer and seamstress, she has her own fashion brand called Murcú and she’s played an essential part in the image and look of the group. Some of the girls are photographers or social media managers, we all use our skills to help with other elements of the group besides the music.

We’ve teamed up with some of Ireland’s best stylists.

They have helped us connect with incredible Irish designers, from Ríon Hannora, Seeking Judy, Shock of Grey and Don’t Kill My Vibe jewellery, who are all incredible up and coming designers. Simone Rocha, Paul Costello, Natalie B Coleman, Richard Malone and Sara O’Neill have all loaned us pieces and love what we’re doing.

Meet The Girls

Ciara Murphy

Ciara hails from Dublin and started playing the fiddle at the age of five. Ciara’s professional career includes touring the world with shows such as Michael Flatley’s Lord of the Dance, Celtic Thunder and Riverdance. She has always had a keen interest in sustainable fashion and has her own fashion line called Murcú.

Sal Heneghan

Sal is a multi-instrumentalist from Castlebar, Co. Mayo. Graduating from the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, Sal has won numerous All-Ireland Fleadh Cheoil and Siansa Gael Linn titles. After releasing her debut album, she went on to tour the world with Celtic Steps and The Young Irelanders. Sal is currently pursuing a Masters in Education.

Zoran Donohoe

Zoran was born in Cavan to a house full of musicians. She started playing the concertina at six years old and spent her summers at music schools and workshops. At 16, she released her first album, which was a joint project with friends.

Aisling Sage

Aisling is an award-winning musician from Cork. She spent many years playing in prestigious orchestras and performed as a resident musician in Disney World Orlando, before going on to tour the world as a violinist with Lord of the Dance.

Niamh Hinchy (Nino)

Born in Limerick, Niamh is one of the most sought after vocalists in the country. She grew up in a household filled with music and she is a harmony fiend. Niamh can add a harmony line to any sound, be it uilleann pipes, heated arguments or fire alarms.

Lisa Canny

Lisa is the proud founder and producer of Biird. A seven-time All-Ireland champion harp and banjo player from Co. Mayo, Lisa toured the world extensively with groups Celtic Crossroads and The Young Irelanders, before moving to London to pursue her own original music career.

Hannah Hiemstra

Hannah is a Dutch drummer, composer and musician. She first visited Ireland aged four and since then, she has been captivated by trad tunes and instruments. She moved to Dublin to study Creative Musicianship at BIMM Music Institute and went on to achieve a Masters in Music Composition at Trinity College Dublin.

Claire Loughran

Claire, from Belfast, is an expert at the fiddle and harp. Her love of music has led her into music and festival photography and band management. She’s also a gaeilgeoir, pharmacist and activist.

Miadhachlughain O’Donnell (Múlú)

Múlú from Co. Down gained an all-Ireland flute title at 15. She has toured the world with many bands, including Afro Celt Sound System and upcoming tradtronica group Huartan.

Laura Jo Callaghan

Laura Jo is a multi-instrumentalist from Longford and she’s been a classically trained pianist since the age of 11. She has received numerous All-Ireland titles on piano, banjo, mandolin and guitar.

Aoife Kelly

Aoife took up the fiddle in her early years of primary school and from there she tried her hand at any musical instrument she got her hands on. She thrives on experimenting and challenging herself to explore as many genres as possible.