Helen O'Shea

Ireland

With the heart of a healer and the grace of grit, Ireland-born, New Jersey-based Folk and Americana artist Helen O'Shea is trailblazing a path of hope and possibility, sharing
her unguarded story so that others may step fully into their power.
Helen’s journey from medicine to motherhood to music embodies resilience,
reinvention, and the power of learning to heal. Blending Americana and Celtic
influences into her signature sound, which she calls AmeriCeltiCana, her music, and message resonate deeply with women and mothers rediscovering themselves later
in life. Helen understands firsthand the challenges mothers face when forging their true passions after years of putting others first.
Before entering the music world, Helen dedicated years to a distinguished medical
career as an obstetrician/gynecologist. She attended medical school at the University College Galway (UCG) Ireland, where she met her husband, Paul O’Shea, PhD. She then spent a number of years as an Assistant Professor in Medical Research and Medical School Teaching at the prestigious McGill University in Montreal, Canada, where she became a leader in perinatal research and medical education. She created Healing in Medicine, a groundbreaking course that taught medical students,
residents, and physicians how to handle the complexities of caring for vulnerable
patients and their families. Even as a doctor, Helen’s deepest calling was to be a
healer—not just of the body, but of the human spirit. She has been a guiding light for
many while quietly navigating her own struggles behind the scenes.
Helen came from humble beginnings, growing up in a small town in Limerick,
Ireland to a police officer father, and homemaker mother. Her earliest childhood
memories are sometimes painful to recall. “As a child, I tried to do everything
perfectly to appease my mother. She was raising four kids in a two-bedroom house
with an outside toilet and no bathroom.” Amidst the chaos, Helen–who describes her
younger self as curious, a quick learner, and the complete opposite of cool–learned to
take refuge in music. “Ironically, when my mother was singing, I felt safe because
she only sang when she was happy. I think that’s when I began to associate music
with happiness.” Helen’s father, a music lover, insisted all of his children learn an
instrument. For Helen, it was the piano and accordion. However, at 18, when she
asked her father if she could join a band, he told her to get the idea out of her head,
as she was going to medical school to get a real job. She naturally obliged, as her Irish upbringing and devotion to her father taught her to please and make her parents
proud.
During the height of her medical career, in 2008, her father was tragically killed in a
car accident. “I remember music being the only salve to my deep devastation during
those awful days.” Helen attributes a large part of her eventual career change to her
father’s passing. “I felt my father was speaking to me and telling me that after many
successful years in my medical career, it was okay to explore my original dream of a
life in music.”
In 2011, Helen and Paul moved to Princeton, NJ, with their two young children for
Paul’s job as a scientist at Merck. Her return to the US, where she had lived briefly in
the 90s, was rough on her children and coincided with their request that she stop
working in medicine and stay home with them after school—an idea which surprised
Helen, but which she and her husband fully supported. “So two days into my new life,
without my lifelong identity as Dr. Helen McNamara, I began to settle into life as
housewife Helen O'Shea, with great difficulty. It was then that my husband said
"You've always wanted to sing - this is your chance.”
Helen rediscovered her life-long passion for music, quickly becoming a dynamic
force in the independent music scene. Her debut full-length album, Turning Tides,
produced and co-written by two-time Grammy winner Marc Swersky (Joe Cocker,
Natalie Cole), explores themes of love, loss, and personal transformation. Her work
has earned critical recognition, including Best Americana Song for “Sturdy Soul” at
the Global Music Awards, and nominations for the 2024 Josie Awards and the
International Singer-Songwriter Award for Best Duo with Alexander Simone for their collaboration on “Holy Mother”. Beyond performing, Helen is an advocate for the
music community, organizing events for foundations like Mothers Matter NJ and
Mary's Place By The Sea. She is currently working on a new approach to reframe the
narrative in childhood and adolescent mental health education.
Helen is set to release a series of singles leading up to her third full-length album,
Songs in the Key of O, a dedication to Sinead O’Connor & Dolores O'Riordan, also
produced by Swersky. “These two iconic, flawed, powerful, countrywomen of mine
have inspired every step of my musical journey and this album is my tribute to their
way too short lives—but boy did they both burn brightly while they could!” Recorded
at Dug Deep Production in Asbury Park, the album features collaborations with The Carlile Family Band, Michelle Moore from the legendary E Street Band, Liam Ó Maonlaí from Hothouse Flowers, Barry Murphy from Hermitage Green, and
singer-songwriters James Maddock and Brad Butcher. Through Helen’s metamorphosis, she holds fiercely to her personal mantra, "Turning Tides Make Sturdy Souls", reflecting her belief that life’s challenges—both joyful and painful—are what shape us. Embracing transformation takes courage, and through
her music, Helen extends a ha