This much I know: Doireann Ní Bhriain

My parents always loved to sing, they actually met in an Irish language choir, and they instilled a love of music in me.

Singing is a hobby for me now — I enjoy it because of the extraordinary way it allows me to switch off and disconnect from everything else. I joined the Culwick Choral Society several years ago. It is a big choir of around 120 people of all ages and from all walks of life.

We’re performing Handel’s Messiah in aid of One Family for people who parent alone in Dublin’s St Patrick’s Cathedral. When I stand up in the cathedral, looking up at the stunning architecture and hearing the opening notes of Messiah, I get a real sense of excitement that Christmas is coming again, relief that we’re all still here and a sense of privilege that we are performing this masterpiece just up the road from where it was first performed in Handel’s presence nearly 270 years ago.