Enya

“I told the record company I didn't feel the need to be at red-carpet events. I wanted a career. But I wanted to keep myself intact as a person.”

“I enjoyed the two years I was with Clannad. I enjoyed touring. We toured a lot in Europe.”

“It's a noisy environment we all live in, whether it's traffic or the workplace, so it's very difficult to think about your life in general. A lot of people are afraid to do that. They like to hide behind their work and not face up to a big problem in their life.”

“I can only be who I am.”

“I find that music makes people just sit and listen, firstly. Then, they seem to interpret their own emotions with the music and it makes them ponder their own life a lot. And then they start to question: Am I happy in my work? Am I happy in my relationships? What am I striving for?”

“With my music, I can express myself so much. A lot of the fans can sense that I'm relating to them something that's quite personal.”

“I use my voice as an instrument.”

“My first language is Gaelic.”

“I don't have pets, I have two guard dogs; and I don't do my own shopping; it's a security thing.”

“I find I'm not one of these composers that are, you know, walking along a beach or walking on the mountainside in County Donegal that's, you know, 'Oh, a melody.' It's more a matter of eventually taking that moment with me to the studio, and it begins to evolve.”

“As with anything creative, change is inevitable.”

“The writing of a melody is an emotional moment; success doesn't make it easy.”

“The personal appearances and red carpet events are very glitzy, but it's a bit false.”

“I don't need a man in my life.”

“It's very homely, this castle. It doesn't have huge ballrooms. I didn't want a cold, cavernous place.”

“The spring, summer, is quite a hectic time for people in their lives, but then it comes to autumn, and to winter, and you can't but help think back to the year that was, and then hopefully looking forward to the year that is approaching.”

“Wintertime for me is a time when I do a lot of my writing in the studio. It's a time I enjoy. And it's very reflective and a very calming time of the year. Throughout the year I gather a lot of musical inspirations, and this is where I bring them to the studio and see what will evolve musically.”

“The ocean is a central image. It is the symbolism of a great journey.”

“When you spend two to three years working on an album that I feel very happy with the end result, there is nothing I would change. Musically, I have achieved what I set out to do.”

“The Druids held the trees as very sacred.”