‘Full circle’ moment for Niall Breslin at Cathedral concert
Caitlin Connors
Niall Breslin (Bressie) returns to the place his life in music began to take shape when he performs with the Polaris Quartet and the Cathedral Choristers in Mullingar Cathedral this Friday evening.
Bressie told the Westmeath Examiner that was where he experienced the thrill of performance for an audience. “It was the first time I ever went, ‘right, this is something I think I’d like to do’,” said Bressie.
The Cathedral Choristers become a hobby for him, and an education too, which he formed the foundation for his musical career.
“I would argue, even though my mam’s a music teacher, my kind of real music education came from the Choristers, learning everything from harmony to counterpoint and all these things. “That’s where I really learned. So, it feels quite obviously a full circle moment to be back in the Cathedral playing pieces of music that are heavily inspired by the midlands.”
Bressie will showcase his album, ‘The Place That’s Never Been Wounded’, released in late 2025, at the concert on Friday.
As a mental health advocate, Bressie spoke about how with the album he wanted to pay tribute to the steady part of us that stays immoveable even when it seems the world is shaking around us and how we often are unable to recognise that part of ourselves.
“If you look at the world over the last 15 years, it’s been utter chaos. And if you’re standing in the middle of it all, there’s something in you that keeps you that way. And it hasn’t been comfortable, but there is still something strong in us.”
The midlands inspired his album and his tour. “We can learn from the land and how the land, no matter what happens, whatever storms are hit by weather, it’s still so steady,” he said.
Bressie’s connection to his hometown and the land bleeds into everything he does, even when he met Oprah Winfrey, and Oprah now has a piece of Westmeath to keep with her. “Everybody was giving her gifts. People were giving her lovely jumpers and brands, and we said you know, we’ll give her a piece of Westmeath heritage – we gave her a sod of turf.”
The visual part of Bressie’s show, arranged by a team including Andrea Cullen, comprises shots of the bogs and lakes across north Westmeath.
He says the pivot into orchestral piano-driven music scared him, even though he started as a pianist. “It’s a different world. It is like starting again. I had all those insecurities with it and had to kind of feed into it a little bit, but I’m delighted I did because the reaction to it has just blown me away.”