My Weekend: I've been coming to Cork since 1984 to play at the folk festival

Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh who performs at Cork Opera House tomorrow, Saturday October 3 and also Sunday October 4 as part of Cork Folk Festival.
I have an older brother, Gearóid, who plays the guitar, and younger sister, Anna, who is a singer and whistle player. We recorded an album together a few years ago which we titled Na Mooneys.
I am delighted that my daughter, Nia, who will be 17 soon, also enjoys the music and we love playing and singing together.
I got most of my music from my father, Francie Mooney, who passed away 14 years ago. He was a primary school teacher but played the fiddle and also composed songs, most notably ‘Gleanntáin Ghlas Ghaoth Dobhair’ which Paul Brady and the Johnstons recorded in the late 60s and was the first Gaelic song to get into the charts in Ireland. I am lucky that my mum is still alive and enjoying life at the age of 93 years.
Our home always welcomed musicians, actors, writers etc. It was always full of creative interesting people, as my father was also interested in writing dramas and involved in the local GAA club.
There was never a dull moment in our home, and if we were not playing music, we were on stage doing something else, like acting in a play, or in a show of some sort.

Mairead Ní Mhaonaigh, with Nia Byrne and Manus Lunny, will join The Bonny Men, Strung with Maria Ryan, Lucia Mac Partlin, Maria O’Connor and Aonghus McCarthy, on Saturday, October 3 for a virtual concert — held without audiences — at the Cork Opera House. Produced by Aniar TV, the concert will be streamed live on TG4’s social platforms and broadcast on TG4 television at a later date.
Further details are available at corkfolkfestival.com.
For more on Cork Folk Festival see https://www.corkfolkfestival.com/