The Public House has once again worked in collaboration with EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum and the Irish Family History Centre to celebrate the Irish heritage of a global superstar who recently played a gig at Malahide Castle. This time it was the turn of Shania Twain who has often talked about her Irish lineage and her Irish grandmother, Eileen Pearce, who was born in Newbridge, Kildare in 1911. However, until now, this was all she knew of her Irish heritage.
EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum and the Irish Family History Centre traced her roots all the way back to Ireland’s pre-famine era, with links to both Kilkenny and Kildare. Upon learning about these deep-rooted connections, and with the potential to present an ancestry report to the music icon, The Public House found a bespoke way to bring her lineage to life. Working with artist and musician David Rooney, Shania Twain’s ancestral story was etched directly onto a telecaster guitar.
With nods to Celtic symbolism, emigration, perseverance, and her roots in both Kildare and Kilkenny, the guitar brings Twain’s genealogy to life in a unique and striking way. Speaking on the project, David Rooney said: “My own family history of emigration made this process incredibly rewarding, constantly uncovering new things as I sketched, illustrated and burned this art onto a guitar for such an icon. It’s magical to think that someone of Shania’s stature might play this guitar, it’s really extraordinary, and I hope there�.
