BIO
My name is Ciara McNally. I’m 21 years old. It still feels surreal that my music is now out there for people to judge, understand, replay, or skip.
I’ve been writing music since I was eleven, though I loved writing long before I ever picked up a guitar. Stories, bad poems, living inside my own imagination — I daydreamed constantly. Music became a permanent presence in my life, a place where I could find the right words and sounds to match how I felt, and feel comforted by that.
This EP Ivory reflects my teenage years, the transition into adulthood, and the quiet shock of discovering the “truth” about real life — its monotony, the yearning for more, regret, and a deep desperation to belong. Every song is rooted in personal experience.
I have a lot of feelings.
Ivory felt like the only possible name for this EP. The color encapsulates the emotional space these songs live in — an in-between: warm but pale, almost translucent. Comforted by pain.
The cover artwork was painted by my close friend Shannon O’Doherty, based on a photograph I took of my dog, Bruno. I asked for deep blues and whites to create an almost cyanotype feel. Bruno is my best friend and has been my comfort blanket through some of my darkest moments — it felt right that he would hold this music.
The EP was recorded by Shayne Byrne at Ragged Company Recordings, who created a safe space for me to be weird, loud, non-verbal, and completely unhinged at times. He helped me enjoy making and listening to my own music — something I never thought I’d be able to do. I’ve always struggled to listen to my own voice, and songwriting is exhausting because it requires reliving pain in order to write honestly.
Vulnerability matters to me. Lyrics are always taken most seriously, and the sound has to reflect the emotion behind them. I don’t want to make art that isn’t real — I want it to hurt a little, but ultimately to heal. To release these parts of myself. To spill everything onto the page.
Finding the right way to record these songs took time. We tried many approaches, but once we found the right route, everything came together quickly and naturally.
I listen to a lot of music, and my taste has grown and softened over time. I’m most inspired by Elliott Smith, Fiona Apple, Tori Amos, and Grouper. I’m drawn to the most honest, raw songwriting, as well as ambient music with a liminal quality — sounds that feel like in-between spaces.
I’m incredibly nervous to share this EP, but also deeply excited. More than anything, I hope it helps someone feel understood.
THE SONGS
“Let Me Love You” was written when I realized that the love I had for someone would never be reciprocated. It felt like bleeding yourself dry just to be acknowledged — giving everything simply because you want to see someone else happy. I remember writing it feeling completely disconnected from the world, lit only by the glimmer of a lamp as I stared at a dirty carpet.
“I Would” comes from the same place. Heartbreak is painful, but it makes great material — just pure longing for something that could never happen.
“(whisper song)” was written late at night, on the eve of starting a new school. Everyone was asleep, so I had to whisper — that’s where the title came from, and I still find myself whispering when I sing it. The song documents my “dance” with suicidal ideation: wanting someone to beg me to stay, wanting the world to fall apart without me, imagining my own funeral and who might walk through the church doors. It’s a deeply messed up song, but an honest one.
“Butterflies Keep Me Awake” explores emotional numbness and the death of the soul — monotony, the vastness of space compared to how small you feel, the desire to stay tucked in bed away from the world, away from small talk, away from the emptiness that threatens to swallow you whole.
Ciara’s interview and songs with Martin Bridgeman
“Ciara McNally was brought to my attention during the early part of the Summer in 2025. She came highly recommended by people in the Carlow music scene and no wonder: Ciara is a hugely talented songwriter with a quiet ambition to match.
She visited the studio for “Ceol Anocht”, and I was very taken with Ciara’s approach to songwriting. There’s care and attention to the lyrics and you hear potential in each song. You get the sense that there’s clear thinking to potential arrangements, but on their own, they carry a weight.
One or two of the lyrics hit hard with a definite edge, an iron fist in a musical velvet glove. Ciara is one to watch and she deserves all the good things that are her due” - Martin Bridgeman