On the 18th of June, the Irish Women in Harmony released their cover of “Dreams” by the Cranberries. Led by Ruth Anne Cunningham, the Irish Women in Harmony is a musical group made up of well know Irish female musicians and singers including; Aimee, Roisin O, Imelda May, Laoise and more!
After witnessing the growing number of domestic abuse cases being reported throughout the lockdown, Ruth Anne wanted to do something to help. She gathered together over 20 musicians for this one cover, arranged the parts and mixed all their voices to create their final product, a beautiful song. They also created “Don’t mess with Mna” merchandise which was so popular it sold out three times!
With this song, the Irish Women in Harmony raised over €215,000 for Safe Ireland, a charity which help women and children in violent and abuse situations! It was such an amazing accomplishment I had to talk to the mastermind behind this project, Ruth Anne Cunningham for my Irish music show Garden Gigs on Quarantine FM.
In this interview, Ruth Anne Cunningham and I discuss the Covid 19 lockdowns, the growth of domestic violence in Ireland during this time, the making of “Dreams” and her plans for the future.
“Dreams” was a huge success and following this success the Irish Women in Harmony released another song this Christmas. “Together at Christmas” was written using lyrics from some of the musician’s favourite Christmas songs. All the money raised with this song was donated to ISPCC Childline.
