Music is something that’s a part of me. If you’re missing something that’s a part of yourself, you do feel lost. Getting that piece back has made me a much happier person, it focuses my mind.
“That could be anything for anybody. It’s music for me, it could be sport for someone else or art for another. If you’re missing something that’s part of what’s in you, I think go and find it. Life can become so much easier, it’s not so overwhelming.”
These are the words of Siobhán McAleese from Co Meath, who for a time became disconnected from music. Reigniting her passion for singing has made an immeasurable difference to her life. But what prompted her to reach out and reconnect was a difficult journey.
Tough times
Growing up in Trim, Siobhán has been singing since she was small and is classically trained on the piano. 
Siobhán McAleese.
She studied music and maths in college. After, she started a summer job in Meath County Council and stayed there for 11 years, going on to work for a company in Dublin.
Along the way she and her husband moved to Dunderry and started a family. However, after she had her first child, health complications arose. Born in March 2015, Siobhán breast fed her daughter Maisie for six months. A year after she stopped breast feeding, she could still produce milk and knew something was wrong.
After visiting her GP and being referred to a specialist, a benign pituitary tumour was detected, one centimetre in size. The pituitary gland is located at the base of the brain, almost behind the eye and it controls hormones.
Three options were presented to Siobhán; do nothing, have the tumour removed or go on medication to fall pregnant again, as her menstrual cycle had stopped and the doctors were unsure if she would be able to have children again.
Siobhán did get pregnant again. Monitored closely, she felt fine until a month before her son Dylan was born, when she started getting blurred vision, pressure behind her eye and extreme fatigue.
I sort of put it to one side and got on with the job at hand
“I knew something wasn’t right, but I had a job to do and that was to deliver Dylan,” Siobhán says. “I knew I would have an MRI scan post-delivery. I sort of put it to one side and got on with the job at hand. Dylan was born in October 2018. I had no problem with the birth, but I did have that MRI in December and it showed that the tumour had grown to 2.5cm.”
Subsequently, Siobhán was diagnosed with secondary Addison’s disease. The tumour had stopped the signals that control your hormones. She was extremely tired and wanted to sleep all day, alongside other symptoms.
She was on medication and steroids until October 2019, when she had surgery to have the tumour removed. In January 2020 she came off steroids and has slowly been building up her strength since.
The important things
Going through all this made Siobhán realise what’s important in life; her family, friends and music.
“I remember thinking, I’ve become so disconnected from music,” Siobhán recalls. “It had been such a constant in my life and I’d become so disconnected for about four years. I was like, I can’t let that continue. 
Siobhán McAleese.
“After that, I said I was going to do something. I was telling myself forever that I was going to get my voice trained properly. I had sung for years in choirs and for the local musical society, but I’d never ever gotten my voice trained.”
Siobhán says without going through her health complications she probably would never have taken the leap to get her voice trained. But for the past 18 months she has done just that, training in an operatic style with Deirdre Shannon, an original member of Celtic Woman. It really helped her get through the hard times.
“She has been a light for me this past year and a half. It was in May of this year she said, ‘Now you’re at a stage where you can show your family and friends what you’ve been doing’. That was amazing, because I look up to her so much and for her to say I’m ready to showcase something based on months and months of work is amazing.”
In April, during the first lockdown, Siobhán started a music Facebook page and put up a home video of her singing O Mio Babbino Caro. It really took off, getting 4,000 views in a week and reaching 57 countries.
It was a way of saying things will be OK, because of what I went through I felt I realised the things that are important to you in life
Since, Siobhán has gotten more and more confident. At the beginning of December she released a charity single, Nella Fantasia, in aid of Mental Health Ireland and the Pituitary Foundation of Ireland.
“It was a way of saying things will be OK, because of what I went through I felt I realised the things that are important to you in life; your health, your family and your friends. I wanted to get that message across and to also say there are supports available to you, to help you find a way forward.”
Siobhán is flying high from her musical successes, and going forward there’s one thing she’s certain of, music will always be a part of her life.
Read more
Living Life: painting the farm
Living Life: Gaeilge, Galway and the GAA
Music is something that’s a part of me. If you’re missing something that’s a part of yourself, you do feel lost. Getting that piece back has made me a much happier person, it focuses my mind.
“That could be anything for anybody. It’s music for me, it could be sport for someone else or art for another. If you’re missing something that’s part of what’s in you, I think go and find it. Life can become so much easier, it’s not so overwhelming.”
These are the words of Siobhán McAleese from Co Meath, who for a time became disconnected from music. Reigniting her passion for singing has made an immeasurable difference to her life. But what prompted her to reach out and reconnect was a difficult journey.
Tough times
Growing up in Trim, Siobhán has been singing since she was small and is classically trained on the piano.
Siobhán McAleese.
She studied music and maths in college. After, she started a summer job in Meath County Council and stayed there for 11 years, going on to work for a company in Dublin.
Along the way she and her husband moved to Dunderry and started a family. However, after she had her first child, health complications arose. Born in March 2015, Siobhán breast fed her daughter Maisie for six months. A year after she stopped breast feeding, she could still produce milk and knew something was wrong.
After visiting her GP and being referred to a specialist, a benign pituitary tumour was detected, one centimetre in size. The pituitary gland is located at the base of the brain, almost behind the eye and it controls hormones.
Three options were presented to Siobhán; do nothing, have the tumour removed or go on medication to fall pregnant again, as her menstrual cycle had stopped and the doctors were unsure if she would be able to have children again.
Siobhán did get pregnant again. Monitored closely, she felt fine until a month before her son Dylan was born, when she started getting blurred vision, pressure behind her eye and extreme fatigue.
I sort of put it to one side and got on with the job at hand
“I knew something wasn’t right, but I had a job to do and that was to deliver Dylan,” Siobhán says. “I knew I would have an MRI scan post-delivery. I sort of put it to one side and got on with the job at hand. Dylan was born in October 2018. I had no problem with the birth, but I did have that MRI in December and it showed that the tumour had grown to 2.5cm.”
Subsequently, Siobhán was diagnosed with secondary Addison’s disease. The tumour had stopped the signals that control your hormones. She was extremely tired and wanted to sleep all day, alongside other symptoms.
She was on medication and steroids until October 2019, when she had surgery to have the tumour removed. In January 2020 she came off steroids and has slowly been building up her strength since.
The important things
Going through all this made Siobhán realise what’s important in life; her family, friends and music.
“I remember thinking, I’ve become so disconnected from music,” Siobhán recalls. “It had been such a constant in my life and I’d become so disconnected for about four years. I was like, I can’t let that continue.
Siobhán McAleese.
“After that, I said I was going to do something. I was telling myself forever that I was going to get my voice trained properly. I had sung for years in choirs and for the local musical society, but I’d never ever gotten my voice trained.”
Siobhán says without going through her health complications she probably would never have taken the leap to get her voice trained. But for the past 18 months she has done just that, training in an operatic style with Deirdre Shannon, an original member of Celtic Woman. It really helped her get through the hard times.
“She has been a light for me this past year and a half. It was in May of this year she said, ‘Now you’re at a stage where you can show your family and friends what you’ve been doing’. That was amazing, because I look up to her so much and for her to say I’m ready to showcase something based on months and months of work is amazing.”
In April, during the first lockdown, Siobhán started a music Facebook page and put up a home video of her singing O Mio Babbino Caro. It really took off, getting 4,000 views in a week and reaching 57 countries.
It was a way of saying things will be OK, because of what I went through I felt I realised the things that are important to you in life
Since, Siobhán has gotten more and more confident. At the beginning of December she released a charity single, Nella Fantasia, in aid of Mental Health Ireland and the Pituitary Foundation of Ireland.
“It was a way of saying things will be OK, because of what I went through I felt I realised the things that are important to you in life; your health, your family and your friends. I wanted to get that message across and to also say there are supports available to you, to help you find a way forward.”
Siobhán is flying high from her musical successes, and going forward there’s one thing she’s certain of, music will always be a part of her life.
Read more
Living Life: painting the farm
Living Life: Gaeilge, Galway and the GAA
SHARING OPTIONS