How agreeable are you?
I think I’m firm and fair and agreeable until you do something that crosses the line. I’ve had to learn the hard way because I would say in the earlier part of my career I’d have been nearly too amenable.
What’s your middle name and what do you think of it?
It’s two middle names, Mary and Frances. Mary is the middle name I was given at baptism, and that was quite traditional. I took Frances as my Confirmation name for two reasons. My dad’s name is Frank, and I adore him. And I love animals, and St Francis is the patron saint. I’m mostly called Dee, though.
Where is your favourite place in Ireland?
Cahore in Co Wexford is one of my favourite spots. It’s one of the closest beaches to where I grew up. We had a little summer shop down there that we used to run during the warm months. I still love going there, when I’m back home, for long walks.
Describe yourself in three words.
I would say I’m kind, loyal and committed. By nature I am a good person; I like to treat others as I’d like to be treated myself. I have a big thing about loyalty, which is what I grew up with. And I’ve always been a hard worker. Both my parents worked, and it was a given that you just mucked in.
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When did you last get angry?
I got angry in the last week or so because I always had near 20/20 vision, but I have to admit that the eyesight is starting to go, so I had to make an appointment with the optician. That angered me a little bit. I was like, oh, here’s the old-age process, deny it all you want!
What have you lost that you would like to have back?
Some of my sporting activities. When I was a younger girl, younger woman, I would have been competitive in sports. I played soccer. I played basketball and tennis competitively, but I reluctantly had to give them up. Given that I was conservatory-trained, it probably would have come to a decision that music was always going to win. But I love sport and I miss the competitive aspects, the training and playing side of things again.
What’s your strongest childhood memory?
I’ll bring sports into it again. My strongest one is going with my parents to Croke Park for Wexford matches. We’d have a gang in the car, the lunches would be packed and we’d have a singsong on the way to Dublin. I remember the great feeling of being in Croke Park and win, lose or draw, on the way home we would stop off somewhere, have a picnic and more songs. Back then, we didn’t win a whole lot, but travelling from Wexford to Dublin was the big thing. It took hours and hours to get there, and that’s why you had the picnic halfway home. Different times.
Where do you come in your family’s birth order and has this defined you in any way?
I’m the oldest of four. Myself, my brother and my sister are two or three years apart, and then there was a gap of 18 years until my sister Kellyanne came along. Both parents worked and as I was the eldest, I became the second mammy, minding them, nurturing them and being a bit of a leader and mentor. Being the eldest, that does define you, and then given the way my career has gone, that has fed into what I do, also. When my mother told us she was pregnant, we all fell off the seat. We said: What do you mean you’re pregnant? You can’t be pregnant! Once we got over the mortification – we were of the age where we felt this is really not cool – and Kellyanne came along, we absolutely doted on her. It actually helped bring the family closer; as we were all fleeing the nest, there was another reason, obviously, to come home because there was such love for this baby that, although a surprise, we all ended up adoring and spoiling rotten.
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What do you expect to happen when you die?
I would love to believe there is a life thereafter, and I would love to feel that when we finish down here, there is something more than this, a place of peace, tranquillity, love and being reacquainted with those that are near and dear to us.
When were you happiest?
It’s very hard to define one kind of happy. I was very happy when I was doing my initial conservatory training in college. Having gone through the whole schooling system, the fact that I could eat, sleep and drink music and live my biggest passion was utopia. Also, I have to say the birth of my daughter and my recent marriage would be moments of being the happiest.
Which actor would play you in a biopic about your life?
I actually didn’t know what to say to this, so I threw it out to my husband and daughter, and they came up with Kate Winslet, Reese Witherspoon and Scarlett Johansson. I’m not saying I look like them, but I think that Kate Winslet is probably the one, more for her persona and that we’re the same age. I won’t go with looks; I’ll probably go with the vibe.
What’s your biggest career/personal regret?
When I was in my mid-20s I was asked to be a guest soprano on the Three Tenors world tour that was starting in Australia. Given the world that I work in, it was my absolute ideal to be on the same stage as Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo and José Carreras. At the time, however, Pavarotti had tax issues and wasn’t allowed to perform, so the concerts were postponed. Then he became ill, and he passed. When I was first asked, I just thought, oh my God, I’ve made it, I’ve totally made it. When the concerts were postponed, I was gutted, but I assumed the tax issues would be sorted and they would happen. I was doubly devastated in that we’d lost one of the greatest voices of our times, and I didn’t get to perform with him.
Have you any psychological quirks?
I don’t think I have any now, and that’s come with getting older or not really giving a damn as much as I used to. When I was younger, particularly when I was going for competitions or major auditions, I was extremely strict with regimes about what I’d eat, how I’d practice and prepare, how I’d have my lucky dress or my lucky piece of jewellery. Other people? Well, my husband said recently that I was very lovable, but “You’re still odd.”
In conversation with Tony Clayton-Lea
