“I grew up in Ballina above the funeral home…”
There are not too many interviews that start like that.
But for Brídín McGowan – a rising contemporary folk musician and composer, funeral director and embalmer – death has always been a part of life.
Indeed, just before our interview, she was dealing with somebody who wanted to plan their own funeral.
It’s more common – and less morbid – than you might think, with many people now making pre-arrangements simply for peace of mind.
Brídín McGowan plays the harp, piano and flute, and is also an accomplished singer and Irish dancer. \ Steve Rogers
“A lot of them come in and they’re like: ‘I don’t trust my children, they’ll throw me in any old box,’” she smiles. “And some people come in and they have outfits and we’d be talking about make-up and hair and everything.”
For all the lighter moments, however, it’s obviously a serious business. For Brídín, that’s where music comes in.
“When tragedy comes to our door, it hurts me a lot,” she admits.
“Most people make small talk with me and they’d be like: ‘Oh you’re probably numb to it by now.’ But no, not even a little bit. It’s rough.
“It’s a really tough job but I have music as a vehicle to help me deal with it and it really does. It really helps me through a lot.”
Family business
Brídín works with her father, David McGowan, who operates funeral homes in Sligo and Ballina. In 2019 he was featured in the award-winning documentary, The Funeral Director. While she only joined the business officially three years ago, she was always involved growing up.
Brídín McGowan balances her career as a musician with her day job as a funeral director and embalmer. \ Steve Rogers
“It’s like if your family owns a shop or a pub,” she says. “We’d go into the funeral home and we’d polish coffins for pocket money. Things like that were just very normal.”
Music, however, was her first love. Brídín describes her mother, Aileen, as a multi-instrumental “force of nature” who always believed that the children would learn best by ear. It worked.
“Mum said I just started playing The Battering Ram [a three-part jig], when I was four or five,” says Brídín. “She wanted us to learn what we want and have our own love of it.”
It genuinely opened my eyes so much
Over the years, Brídín mastered the harp, piano and flute, as well as traditional Irish singing and dancing, but it was her decision to study music and Irish at UCC, followed by a master’s in music performance, that showed her “there were no boundaries” when it came to creating her own sound.
“Jazz, pop, opera, African drumming,” she lists of the genres she was exposed to. “It genuinely opened my eyes so much.”
After college, Brídín spent two years teaching in Cork but while she found it very fulfilling, it left little space for her own creativity.
“I loved teaching but sometimes I felt like I loved it a bit too much and I never wanted to play a note when I came home,” she explains.
Coming home
In fact, it was her return to the family funeral business that actually helped her to find her musical voice again. Though, initially, she only stepped in to help out at short notice and had no plans to stay full-time.
“Even when I started doing it, dad was literally in shock,” she recalls. “He was like: ‘You are the last one I would have thought.’”
Brídín McGowan is a rising star in contemporary folk. \ Steve Rogers
Speaking with Brídín, however, her love for her job is apparent. In particular, the privilege of looking after the deceased person on their final journey.
“It’s knowing that you’ve looked after them the way you’d want to be looked after,” she says simply, explaining the little touches that can make all the difference.
For instance, her sister, Eithne, who also works as an embalmer, keeps “drawers of fluffy socks” on standby, just in case families forget to bring them in.
Dancing so closely with death, Brídín says that various experiences over the last three years have solidified her belief in the spiritual world.
You are literally hit with scenarios that make you constantly think: ‘I’m so lucky to be alive and to have my family and to have friends’
“It has absolutely made me certain that there’s something else,” she says, “but in saying that, I would never force my opinion on anyone.”
However, it has also taught her to appreciate the gift of life and the things that she might otherwise have taken for granted.
“You are literally hit with scenarios that make you constantly think: ‘I’m so lucky to be alive and to have my family and to have friends,’” she says.
“And the important thing I really learned was about sharing your kindness with other people and you don’t know who is carrying a cross. You don’t know what burdens people have.”
Making music
The work does take a toll, however, with Brídín explaining that music has really become her “emotional outlet”.
While influenced by Irish traditional music, she describes her style as contemporary folk incorporating other influences, as well as technology such as loop pedals to build her unique sound.
The effect is ethereal and almost other-worldly, as apparent on listening to her single from last year, Ocean of Stars. She is currently putting the finishing touches to her first self-titled album and hopes to release her next single in March. While she never set out to be commercial, it’s clear that her music has struck a chord simply by being true to herself.
I don’t write music that I hope gets played on the radio
“I write music that I want to hear,” she says. “I don’t write music that I hope gets played on the radio and my music isn’t terribly commercial but for some reason it has been picked up and people like it.”
She has performed on The Tommy Tiernan Show twice and poignantly, was part of The Late Late Show tribute to Ashling Murphy as the country grappled with the terrible tragedy.
I couldn’t find the words to explain myself
“I found that really hard because I had to speak about something that I couldn’t find the words to explain myself,” says Brídín of the experience. “It’s something we will never ever forget and I just hope that her family are surrounded by kindness and love and help and support and hopefully everybody can do the same for each other.”
Brídín is hoping to do her first Irish tour this year, as well as perform at events like the Wild Roots Festival in Sligo in June. But while her star is on the rise, her feet are firmly planted on the ground.
“I love playing on TV and the next morning doing a funeral with a family – you never get a big head anyway. You’re always brought back to it, grounded like,” she says.
“It really makes you think that no matter how excited you might get about these opportunities, don’t ever forget that what’s most important is life and your wellbeing and your family’s wellbeing. It keeps me reminded of that, which I like.”
You can follow @bridinmusic on Instagram and Facebook
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“I grew up in Ballina above the funeral home…”
There are not too many interviews that start like that.
But for Brídín McGowan – a rising contemporary folk musician and composer, funeral director and embalmer – death has always been a part of life.
Indeed, just before our interview, she was dealing with somebody who wanted to plan their own funeral.
It’s more common – and less morbid – than you might think, with many people now making pre-arrangements simply for peace of mind.
Brídín McGowan plays the harp, piano and flute, and is also an accomplished singer and Irish dancer. \ Steve Rogers
“A lot of them come in and they’re like: ‘I don’t trust my children, they’ll throw me in any old box,’” she smiles. “And some people come in and they have outfits and we’d be talking about make-up and hair and everything.”
For all the lighter moments, however, it’s obviously a serious business. For Brídín, that’s where music comes in.
“When tragedy comes to our door, it hurts me a lot,” she admits.
“Most people make small talk with me and they’d be like: ‘Oh you’re probably numb to it by now.’ But no, not even a little bit. It’s rough.
“It’s a really tough job but I have music as a vehicle to help me deal with it and it really does. It really helps me through a lot.”
Family business
Brídín works with her father, David McGowan, who operates funeral homes in Sligo and Ballina. In 2019 he was featured in the award-winning documentary, The Funeral Director. While she only joined the business officially three years ago, she was always involved growing up.
Brídín McGowan balances her career as a musician with her day job as a funeral director and embalmer. \ Steve Rogers
“It’s like if your family owns a shop or a pub,” she says. “We’d go into the funeral home and we’d polish coffins for pocket money. Things like that were just very normal.”
Music, however, was her first love. Brídín describes her mother, Aileen, as a multi-instrumental “force of nature” who always believed that the children would learn best by ear. It worked.
“Mum said I just started playing The Battering Ram [a three-part jig], when I was four or five,” says Brídín. “She wanted us to learn what we want and have our own love of it.”
It genuinely opened my eyes so much
Over the years, Brídín mastered the harp, piano and flute, as well as traditional Irish singing and dancing, but it was her decision to study music and Irish at UCC, followed by a master’s in music performance, that showed her “there were no boundaries” when it came to creating her own sound.
“Jazz, pop, opera, African drumming,” she lists of the genres she was exposed to. “It genuinely opened my eyes so much.”
After college, Brídín spent two years teaching in Cork but while she found it very fulfilling, it left little space for her own creativity.
“I loved teaching but sometimes I felt like I loved it a bit too much and I never wanted to play a note when I came home,” she explains.
Coming home
In fact, it was her return to the family funeral business that actually helped her to find her musical voice again. Though, initially, she only stepped in to help out at short notice and had no plans to stay full-time.
“Even when I started doing it, dad was literally in shock,” she recalls. “He was like: ‘You are the last one I would have thought.’”
Brídín McGowan is a rising star in contemporary folk. \ Steve Rogers
Speaking with Brídín, however, her love for her job is apparent. In particular, the privilege of looking after the deceased person on their final journey.
“It’s knowing that you’ve looked after them the way you’d want to be looked after,” she says simply, explaining the little touches that can make all the difference.
For instance, her sister, Eithne, who also works as an embalmer, keeps “drawers of fluffy socks” on standby, just in case families forget to bring them in.
Dancing so closely with death, Brídín says that various experiences over the last three years have solidified her belief in the spiritual world.
You are literally hit with scenarios that make you constantly think: ‘I’m so lucky to be alive and to have my family and to have friends’
“It has absolutely made me certain that there’s something else,” she says, “but in saying that, I would never force my opinion on anyone.”
However, it has also taught her to appreciate the gift of life and the things that she might otherwise have taken for granted.
“You are literally hit with scenarios that make you constantly think: ‘I’m so lucky to be alive and to have my family and to have friends,’” she says.
“And the important thing I really learned was about sharing your kindness with other people and you don’t know who is carrying a cross. You don’t know what burdens people have.”
Making music
The work does take a toll, however, with Brídín explaining that music has really become her “emotional outlet”.
While influenced by Irish traditional music, she describes her style as contemporary folk incorporating other influences, as well as technology such as loop pedals to build her unique sound.
The effect is ethereal and almost other-worldly, as apparent on listening to her single from last year, Ocean of Stars. She is currently putting the finishing touches to her first self-titled album and hopes to release her next single in March. While she never set out to be commercial, it’s clear that her music has struck a chord simply by being true to herself.
I don’t write music that I hope gets played on the radio
“I write music that I want to hear,” she says. “I don’t write music that I hope gets played on the radio and my music isn’t terribly commercial but for some reason it has been picked up and people like it.”
She has performed on The Tommy Tiernan Show twice and poignantly, was part of The Late Late Show tribute to Ashling Murphy as the country grappled with the terrible tragedy.
I couldn’t find the words to explain myself
“I found that really hard because I had to speak about something that I couldn’t find the words to explain myself,” says Brídín of the experience. “It’s something we will never ever forget and I just hope that her family are surrounded by kindness and love and help and support and hopefully everybody can do the same for each other.”
Brídín is hoping to do her first Irish tour this year, as well as perform at events like the Wild Roots Festival in Sligo in June. But while her star is on the rise, her feet are firmly planted on the ground.
“I love playing on TV and the next morning doing a funeral with a family – you never get a big head anyway. You’re always brought back to it, grounded like,” she says.
“It really makes you think that no matter how excited you might get about these opportunities, don’t ever forget that what’s most important is life and your wellbeing and your family’s wellbeing. It keeps me reminded of that, which I like.”
You can follow @bridinmusic on Instagram and Facebook
Read more
Singer Orla Fallon on love, loss and family
‘I'm determined to live every single day well’
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