Ireland in 50 Albums, No 20: A Woman's Heart (1992) compilation 

Eleanor McEvoy teamed  up with Mary Black, Dolores Keane, Sharon Shannon, Frances Black and Maura O'Connell for an album that became a phenomenon 

A Woman's Heart: Mary Black, Maura O'Connell, Dolores Keane, Frances Black, Sharon Shannon and Eleanor McEvoy.

In 1992, Eleanor McEvoy was a jobbing musician. The scene in Dublin for session musicians was vibrant. She was picking up work at Windmill Lane Studios, appearing on tracks with artists like Liam Clancy, U2 and Sinéad O’Connor. She was moonlighting with Mary Black’s band as well as doing her own gigs.

One night, Mary Black and her husband, Joe O’Reilly, head of Dara Records, came along to one of her gigs at Mother Redcaps, a music venue in Dublin’s Liberties. McEvoy dropped in a song in her set, A Woman’s Heart, reluctantly because she already had other slow tracks as part of her setlist, but the song struck a chord with Black, who had also heard her singing it late one night at a party. The following morning, O’Reilly phoned McEvoy.