Máiréad Ní Mhaonaigh, fiddle player and singer with Altan
Your earliest holiday memory?
We wouldn't go away on a holiday but we'd visit an aunt or an uncle. My Uncle Niall was a sergeant who lived in Eglington Street in Galway. Staying with him was the first time that I remember a few days away from home. If the weather was good we'd go out to Connemara. He lived in the barracks. It was a dream when you came from Donegal when you went into the buzz of it all. There was a cinema in the city centre. Moons was there as well. There were so many things to do. The cathedral was very big for me as a child. In the morning, it was full of the din of traffic, that wasn't what we were used to in the countryside. That was extremely strange. You'd hear the early morning people going to work, the milkman, the street cleaners, the buzz of the early morning.
What was your worst holiday?
I do remember summers in Donegal when it was raining all the time in my teens. I lived in Gaoth Dobhair. I remember one summer when I was about 17 there was no let up, but we made up for it because we would have brilliant sessions in Hiúdaí Beag's pub. It was good and handy to the house. My father was usually with me. My parents were both avid session goers at that stage. We learned a lot of tunes because of it. There's a silver lining to every cloud.
Your best holiday?
It was the first time we went to Brittany to the Lorient International Celtic Festival.
It was really a family holiday with my brother Gearóid, my sister, Anna, and myself. We were teenagers. My parents were with us. We were there for a full week, playing at
small gigs. We had a lot of days off and we could go to the beach. It was the best fun. We stayed in a school in Lorient where all the musicians would stay. There was very little sleep.
If budget or work was not a restriction, what would be your dream holiday?
Southern California, near San Francisco and Soselito, for a month. I've been there but it would be nice to spend time there without having to work. The pace of life is lovely and the people have a nice openess about them. It has a nice relaxed feeling along with the weather and it's a very creative place.
If you had your pick, who would you bring on holiday with you?
Now that would be telling. At the moment it would be my daughter, Nia. She's five. We always have a good time together. In your children you see parts of yourself when you were a child, they bring back the child in you.
Your favourite place in Ireland?
Donegal has a special place but I do love going to Co Kerry. It's exotic. Baile na bPoc and all around the Gaeltacht area is nice. It's near An Daingean. The Beggleys live there and it's full of fun and music.
What book would you recommend to bring on holiday?
I remember reading A Year in Provenceby Peter Mayle. It was a really good holiday read and you could taste the food when he was describing his meals.
Where to next?
I hope to finish my album this month and I have promised my mother and my little daughter to go on holiday somewhere, Nice maybe.
• In conversation with Catherine Foley