Night has brought to those who sleep, only dreams they can not keep.

Over in the UK, the music press can be brutal. They can say wonderful things about you one week, and the next week, you`re in the can.

My first language is Gaelic.

When making music I sink myself into the process as deeply as I can and forget all of the success.

The personal appearances and red carpet events are very glitzy, but it`s a bit false.

The success of Watermark surprised me. I never thought of music as something commercial; it was something very personal to me.

I use my voice as an instrument.

I tend to listen to the classical composers: Rachmaninov, Satie.

The ocean is a central image. It is the symbolism of a great journey.

Singing in Gaelic is very, very natural to do. I think lends itself very much so to being sung.

The music sold itself before anybody knew who I was.

I am not reclusive. I just have a private life.

The writing of a melody is an emotional moment; success doesn`t make it easy.

The Druids held the trees as very sacred.

I could have been more famous if I did all the glitzy things, but celebrity always seemed so unnecessary.

Fame and success are very different things.

I told the record company I didn`t feel the need to be at red-carpet events. I wanted a career. But I wanted to keep myself intact as a person.

I do promotion when it is necessary, but I always want to get back to the music.

It`s very homely, this castle. It doesn`t have huge ballrooms. I didn`t want a cold, cavernous place.

Writing music on your own makes you think a lot about your life. Who are you? Would you change anything about yourself? This is where it comes from.

My core beliefs revolve around the idea that we should live to the best of our abilities-we should live and let live.

I didn`t expect such a huge reaction, but I knew I was doing something different to everything else that was happening at the time.

I am really a very shy person. If I appear, it is because of the music, not because I want to be seen.

I have had death threats from people with fixations.

The minuses of celebrity include having to live with security and the knowledge that you may be stalked.

I can only be who I am.

I don`t have pets, I have two guard dogs; and I don`t do my own shopping; it`s a security thing.

I`m not one for walking the beaches humming a melody. I love the discipline of sitting in the studio, writing and listening. That is my domain.

There is no formula to it. Writing every song is a little journey. The first note has to lift you.

As with anything creative, change is inevitable.

I know every note in every song, the whole history of it, even parts that were there and are gone.

I don`t need a man in my life.

I do a so-called trip into myself: I sit down at the piano and the melody might start to evolve from my playing or then I might start to sing it.

When I was growing up, I`d be in the choir. My mum was the organist in the church, so I`d sing in the church.

People tend to think that because I need all this time on my own in the studio, that I need time on my own, period. And that`s not really true.

It wasn`t so long ago that it was not popular to speak Gaelic in Ireland because the areas that Gaelic is spoken in were much poorer areas.

With my music, I can express myself so much. A lot of the fans can sense that I`m relating to them something that`s quite personal.

I enjoyed the two years I was with Clannad. I enjoyed touring. We toured a lot in Europe.

I am privileged to do a job I love to do. I would never change any moment from my life.