Last May, national treasure Daniel O'Donnell stunned both the music world and his many loyal fans, when he announced he was going to step back from his gruelling tour schedule.
Catherine Lee caught up with Daniel and his wife Majella at home in Donegal to talk about their plans for the years ahead, why a sense of place is important to them and the excitement as they start their latest adventure, taking up the challenge of High Road, Low Road!
"I’m not not well," Daniel O Donnell is insistent, as we sit over a cuppa in his beautiful and understated Kincasslagh home, which sits right on the edge of the sea in Donegal and situated just beyond the small coastal village of Dungloe.
The view outside is powerful, raw but stunning. The house, recently renovated by architect Dermot Bannon, hunkers low in its surroundings. From the front, it’s unassuming, set back from the winding road, but the giant window to the left of the front door gives a hint that something special lies beyond.
Once inside, you are struck by how that window allows the light to flood in, but really, it’s all about the incredible view out the back, a view that opens up as you step into the kitchen. You can’t help but be drawn to the full length windows that run all across the back of the house. It makes you stop, drop your shoulders and take in the Atlantic beyond. The house is linear, reminiscent of a Viking longhouse with each room making the most of those views.
Inside it’s warm, cosy and spacious with room to move around the kitchen diner or sit and read. Daniel, Majella and I sit on the sofas at the end of the room, with Daniel is explaining why he’s stepping back for a few years and it’s not because he’s "not not well".
"Well I was thinking about it for a while. I’d a lot of allergies and infections…recurrent chest infections, like even this morning I ate something and I could feel I wasn’t right, but I’m fine again now. It’s like an intolerance and I found the singing was bothered by it. So I thought I would take a break to get that sorted. I’m on medication and that works fine, but I want to go off and see if I can find another way round it.
"And then just to have time off. I won’t go back to touring as I did before, you know. I’m only going to do a certain amount of shows. I would like to be able to do two shows and then a day off. But that’s not always practical you know. We generally do three days and a day off, but that’s not going to work for me going forward. So, that might determine how much and when I will tour."
It may have come as a shock to his fans, but it’s clear that the couple have been thinking about this for a while. Majella is fully supportive of her husband’s decision, looking forward to having more time to spend together, while acknowledging that Daniel might find it hard not to be doing things. He insists that he could sit and do nothing "forever."
"You are never doing nothing, Daniel," she playfully points out. "You’ll be playing bridge or writing letters or making videos for people. He may think he’s not doing anything, but even if he’s just sitting there, he’s always doing something."
Doing nothing is already not an option by the sounds of it, as the couple go on to explain their plans for the years ahead. There will be some work stuff, as Daniel reels off dates already firmly in the diary: "I’m doing the Gertrude Byrne’s cruises; it’s a week in September out of Barcelona and then the following August, out of Rome. I’ll be involved with the Mary from Dungloe Festival, we’re part of Relay for Life here in Donegal and I’ll do the Opry shows for TG4.
"So it’s not really busy (really, Daniel? I’m tired already just listening), then we have dates in Killarney in 2027, we have some dates in America in November, then two in Blackpool and one in Glasgow in December and after that I don’t know. We’ll have to figure out something then. Maybe we’ll tour a bit in Ireland, but I’m not preoccupying myself with the future. I’m going to ease into this time, it will be lovely, doing bits and pieces."
At the heart of all the decisions is their family: Daniel is stepfather to Majella’s two children and grandfather to their four grandchildren, Olivia (10), Alfie (8), Luke (6) and little Jack, born in Melbourne last April. He insists it’s his best job ever, with Majella confirming:
"I suppose Daniel didn’t experience early parenting himself and I did, so I love them to bits but he could have them hanging out of every lobe on his head and it’s no bother. It’s all Gaga, Gaga, Gaga because he’s one of those infuriating people who will literally give them everything they ask for. The dinner could be on the table and he’ll be outside giving them Smarties ’cause they asked. I’m the disciplinarian still, but he thoroughly enjoys them, the way a grandad should."
They hosted the whole family, including the Australia-based ones, in Kincasslagh for Christmas. Spending quality time with them is very much driving plans for the next few years. "It’s going to be lovely: no pressure, no time constraints. We’re going to go to Australia for three months, to spend time in Melbourne. We’ve been a few times but never without time constraints," explains Majella.
"I’ve been there 20 times, working and moving from one show to another, but we’re hoping to get out early in 2027 and we’ll go for two or three months," says Daniel.
If you watched the 2015 series, Daniel and Majella's B&B Road Trip, you’ll know the couple knock great craic out of just hanging out with each other. They love an 'experience’, which partly explains why they were up for taking part in High Road, Low Road, the travel show where one participant gets to travel to the surprise location in luxury, while the other slums it on a budget. Lips are sealed about the destination and who got the short straw, but they clearly enjoyed the whole experience and having the time to do it.
"I love experiencing anything, so when you get to experience something like this, you know what it is and it was the same as the B&B Road Trip," says Majella. "It’s absolutely wonderful to go somewhere and everything is organised for you. When we go away on holidays we don’t plan anything and we just walk around and we actually miss stuff, so the next time we go away, I’m going to do the research and really experience the place."
"We didn’t know here we were going, so there was the fun and surprise in that too," adds Daniel.
Majella says she is always keen on building stillness and time out into her daily life, admitting it’s something she needs. She’s been very open about her experience of long-term depression (she was also diagnosed with breast cancer back in 2013). She says it’s well managed but she needs and wants to be close to nature, to walk, frequently going out to Owey island – which we can just about make out off the coast from the kitchen window – to reconnect with herself and just be quiet. "I can get overwhelmed, so I know how to self-regulate." She’s interested to see how Daniel with fare with his time off.
As the wind starts to stir outside and the clouds roll in over the sea, they reflect on the loss of close family and friends in recent years, including Majella’s mother, Julia and Daniel’s manager, Ciaran. They admit that was another factor in their determination to make more time for themselves and the important things in life.
"You don’t know what’s going to be ahead of you when you’re in your 60s," Daniel says (he’s just turned 64). "My sister died suddenly in her 60s and my manager died at 67. People have been very good, very understanding and they want you to live your best life and have the time to enjoy it.
"Nobody knows what the future holds", says Daniel. "You can’t look back until you go forward. Whatever will, be will be…" Which sounds like a perfectly good place to end this chat with these two people whose experiences have given them clear sight of where they want their life’s journey to take them. I go back for one last look at the rolling Atlantic out the window before the long drive home.
Watch High Road, Low Road on Tuesday at 7pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player.
