'I'm doing what I was always meant to be doing'

A singer/songwriter from Walterstown says she was spurred on to rediscover her passion for music following her best friend's terminal cancer diagnosis.

Bláthín O’Connor (38), who goes by the stage name of Bonneer found her love for music at a young age however she stopped playing the violin, the instrument her father taught her following his shock death after a short illness when she was just 11 years-old.

After putting her creative streak on hold for decades, Bláthín got the courage to follow her dreams after her childhood friend, Kim Allen was given just five months to live. This was the catalyst to Bonneer’s creative explosion. Wanting to let her friend know how dear she was to her, she composed a piece of piano music in her honour, which was played on the day of the funeral.

Shortly after, Bláthín began songwriting, unleashing her untapped creativity. To date, she has written over 100 songs and has composed several pieces for piano.

Five years on, the songstress is doing what she says she "was always meant to do" and has just released her debut single ‘Strangers’ and credits her friend's unwavering belief in her for her new found success.

"Kim was my biggest fan, she is probably the one who believed in me most out of everyone," she said. She told me that I would be doing this for a living one day. I realised how precious life was at that point.

"She had this innate bravery that I'd always admired and I really wanted to do her proud.

"I feel she is with me every step of the way."

Impossible to escape from music in her home, Bláthín remembers her parents listening to the likes of Brahms German Requiem in the kitchen, while anything from John Martyn to The Bangles would be blaring from her brother’s room at the opposite end of the house.

Her talent for singing was first realised at the age of 10, when her brother gave her the album ‘Dummy’ by Portishead as a birthday present. This album in particular had a huge influence.

But Bláthín's world was turned upside down when her father sadly died after a short illness when she was 11 and could no longer face playing the violin as she explains:

"I was very close to my dad. He was my hero and we'd established a beautiful bond in the few years we had together, so when he'd gone the violin just became a painful reminder that he wasn't here anymore and I suppose I just couldn't face it. That said, I still take it out every now and again in his honour."

The talented youngster did however continue singing and playing piano, and it was around this time when she began singing as the lead soloist in a local youth choir directed by the late Sir Colin Mawby, founder of the RTÉ Philharmonic Choir.

The Walterstown woman had another life defining moment in 2021 when she was diagnosed with Malignant Melanoma after she noticed a new freckle on her arm that started to change in colour.

"I got the shock of my life," she said. I was so lucky in that I got it so early, it was in the very top layer of the skin so didn't have a chance to grow. I had to have an operation to remove more of the surrounding flesh just to make sure all of the cancer cells were removed. Thank god I didn't have to have any chemo or anything like that. It was terrifying but I came out of it the other side and it made me realise that life could change with the blink of an eye and you just don't know what's around the corner."

Bonneer's inspiration for he music comes from her own life experiences and observations.

There are folk, pop and classical elements, but it is quite clear that she’s heavily influenced by the music she grew up listening to.

‘Strangers’ is a track that was written a few months back after Bonneer was going through a bit of a rough patch, outlining the fact that none of us know what the other has gone through or is going through in life.

“I suppose it’s about what life can do to you," she said. "How those you allow close to you will often disappoint you. How the ups and downs can shape you and often change you as a person; for better or worse.”

‘Strangers’ was recorded in Darklands Audio with Dan Doherty and mastered by Pete Maher (The Rolling Stones, The Pixies).