'Ciara stood out in the most extraordinary way'... CMAT's music teacher reflects on the Dunboyne star's school days

Singer-songwriter and Dunboyne native Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson, better known as CMAT, is taking the world by storm after playing the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury this year.

With her single ‘Take a Sexy Picture of Me’ blowing up on TikTok and the release of her third studio album “Euro Country’ coming up on the 29th August, CMAT is putting Meath on the map with her music.

And it's no surprise to the singer’s secondary school music teacher, Pat Morris from St. Peter’s College in Dunboyne, who saw CMAT’s, or Ciara’ potential from an early age.

“Ciara stood out in the most extraordinary way, said Pat, speaking to Claire Byrne on RTE radio last week.”

“She was very individual and she thrived when given opportunities. I could see in Ciara an interest in music that was unusual. She had a great interest in North American folk music. I directed Ciara to different artists from this genre that I was interested in and she lapped it up.”

“When she did her Leaving Cert practical exam for music, she played the guitar and sang while I played the piano. The six songs she chose to play were diverse and ridiculously interesting.”

“I have the folder from her music practical to this day and I cherish it dearly. She was an all-round wonderful student. She also performed in the school’s performance of Les Miserables.

“In my opinion, nobody stands up as a role model as well as she does for young women in Ireland at the moment.”

Louise Duffy, presenter of The Louise Duffy Show on RTE Radio 1, added that “CMAT is an arena girl now, there won’t be anymore small performances.”

CMAT began to emerge over the Covid pandemic before releasing her first studio album “If My Wife Knew I’d Be Dead” in 2022.

In 2023, the singer headlined her hometown’s festival Otherside in Slane. Her mother, Sinead Lanigan, said at the time that “it is such a special gig because it is in Meath, where she grew up.”

During her performance at Glastonbury, CMAT said that it was the “biggest moment of her career” and told the BBC afterwards that she “hasn’t taken a break for the last four years” doing 100 shows a year.

The singer encouraged the crowd to do the “Dunboyne County Meath Two Step” while on stage at the festival while she sang her hit song ‘I Wanna Be a Cowboy, Baby!”.