Nóirín Ní Riain

Nóirín Ní Riain (born 1951, Caherconlish, County Limerick) is an Irish singer, writer, teacher, theologian and an authority on Gregorian Chant (plainchant, plainsong). She is primarily known for spiritual songs, but also sings Celtic music, Sean-nós and Indian songs. Nóirín plays an Indian harmonium (Surpeti), Shruti box and Feadóg (whistle). She was Artist-in-Residence for Wexford and Laois. Now she is performing with her sons Eoin and Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin under the name A.M.E.N.  and gives workshops about "Sound as a Spiritual Experience".

Nóirín Ní Riain began to take singing lessons at seven years of age. She later went on to study music at University College Cork (UCC), specialising in religious music for post-graduate work. Alongside this she developed as a performer, focusing particularly on religious, Irish traditional and international religious music. She has performed extensively worldwide. Notable events include: the International Peace Gathering at Costa Rica to introduce His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama in 1989; The United Nations summit at Rio de Janeiro 1992; the European Cultural Month at Krakow, Poland 1992; the UN Earth summit in Copenhagen 1995; the World Women summit in Beijing 1995, she has performed in the Royal Festival Hall with Sinéad O'Connor; with the American composer John Cage; with the sons of Karlheinz Stockhausen, Markus and Simon; with Paul Winter at the summer and winter solstice concerts in the Cathedral of St John the Divine, New York; with the Scola Gregoriana of Notre Dame University, Indiana, where she performed the leading role in Anima, by Hildegard von Bingen; she has sung several times in India as a delegate of the Irish government, and performed in war-torn Sarajevo.

The Cork singer and teacher at UCC, Pilib Ó Laoghaire (1910-1976), was of great influence. He persuaded her to become a singer instead of studying law and learned her that old and precious heritage of Ireland, the sean-nós singing.In UCC she studied under Aloys Fleischmann and Seán Ó Riada.

The Swiss mystic Joa Bolendas told about her: "Nóirín once told me that she had to sing the way her Celtic soul dictated. I prayed about this and an answer came in the following words: Nóiríns singing embodies a transmission of the spirit by means of heredity from the period 550 to 670 and 730 C.E.! Informative patterns have also come to her since birth, and through her natural development in life. Thus she has acquired the typical features of a singer of Celtic Christian songs."[4]

Already as a child she often visited Glenstal Abbey in Murroe to listen to the chants of the Benedictine monks. Later she performed and made several recordings with them under which the trilogy: Vox Clamantis in Deserto (Caoineadh na Maighdine), Vox Populi (Good People All) and Vox de Nube (A Voice from the Cloud)[5]. Vox De Nube also contains two songs by Joa Bolendas.

She has a PhD in theology with her thesis entitled - "The Specificity of Christian Theosonetics" and focuses on an in-depth study and representation of Sounds - primarily vocal sounds - as a means to religious experience from a Christian perspective.