ENTERTAINMENT: So many strings to her bow

Mayo multi-instrumentalist, Éadaoin Ní Mhaicín, is run off her feet these days. She has just returned from the Mediterranean principality of Monaco, where she was invited to perform with the Lord of the Dance production at Michael Flatley’s 65th birthday bash. The swanky do, held at the Yacht Club Of Monaco, was attended by Prince Albert of Monaco –who himself was in Mayo recently to unveil a statue of his mother, Princess Grace, in Newport.
Ní Mhaicín joined up to perform with Eddie Jordan’s band later in the evening, while Flatley also joined Éadaoin on stage for a few tunes. The Balla woman says it was an experience that she will never forget.
With barely a chance to catch her breath, Ní Mhaicín then found herself up in Belfast last week, where she and her band LÉDA performed as part of Belfast Tradfest. LÉDA’s latest CD ‘Oh Honey’, is going down a storm on the airwaves too.
Next week, Ní Mhaicín is down at the other end of the island, where she’ll be performing seven shows with Lord Of The Dance at the Cork Opera House from August 9 to 13.
All this comes on top of a very busy last 12 months, during which she graced stages in New Zealand, Canada, Germany, Finland and Switzerland – not to mention Broadway.
Ní Mhaicín, a qualified primary-school teacher, has been playing music since the age of four. She’s also an All-Ireland Fleadh champion and a winner of the prestigious Trophee des Harpes Camac at the Festival Interceltique de Lorient in France.