Lisa Kelly (Irish Laoise Ní Cheallaigh) (7 May 1977) is a singer of both classical and Celtic music. She has taken part in many musical theatre productions and concerts, and is a founding and former member of the musical group Celtic Woman. She has played several principal roles, such as "Velma Kelly" in Chicago, "Florence" in Chess, "Laurey" in Oklahoma!, "Maria" in West Side Story and "Sandy" in Grease. After deciding to take a break from her day job in the computer industry to return to theatre, she played the lead role in the Christmas pantomime Jack and the Beanstalk at Dublin's Gaiety Theatre. This led to her being cast in the American production of Riverdance – The Show as lead female vocalist in 2000, a position she held for five years while touring. While touring with Riverdance, Lisa met Australian dancer Scott Porter, who later became her husband. During this time, Lisa also met fellow vocalist Lynn Hilary, who would later go on to become a member of Celtic Woman in 2007 as a replacement for Méav Ní Mhaolchatha. Kelly was one of the Riverdance vocalists who appeared in the 2003 Special Olympics opening ceremony when they performed 'Cloudsong.' This was in support of Lynn, who had the leading vocal role at the start of the song. There is a video of the performance on YouTube. In 2002, Lisa was asked to record a solo album with director David Downes on the Celtic Collections label. The resulting debut album, Lisa, was released in 2003. Songs featured on this CD are "Carrickfergus", "Siúil A Rún", "The Deer's Cry", "Lift the Wings", "The Soft Goodbye", "Home and the Heartland", "Homecoming", "Now We Are Free", "Dubhdarra", "May It Be", and "Send Me a Song". Lisa was again approached by Downes in 2004, and asked to be part of Celtic Woman, originally planned as a one-night event at Dublin's Helix Theatre. The group has since released several albums and DVD performances of their concerts and embarked on several world tours. During the A New Journey tour, and again during the "Believe" 2012 tour, Lisa took a break for the birth of her children. She was replaced by Alex Sharpe who later became a full-time member of Celtic Woman when Orla Fallon left. Later, in the Believe tour, she was replaced by Susan McFadden. In 2009, Lisa Kelly sang the main title song If You Believe for the Disney movie Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure. Lisa was one of four people involved who were connected to Celtic Woman – the others being violinist/fiddler Máiréad Nesbitt, musical director and composer David Downes, and former member and vocalist Méav Ní Mhaolchatha. In December 2011, Lisa announced that she was taking a maternity leave and would not participate in the 2012 Believe Tour. She was replaced by Susan McFadden, the younger sister of Brian McFadden. At the time it was thought to be a short-term departure only; however, in January 2013 Lisa announced her departure from Celtic Woman and moved to Peachtree City, Georgia, USA, where she announced the opening of The Lisa Kelly Voice Academy, indicating a switch from performing to teaching. The new voice academy is being run in conjunction with her husband Scott Porter, the former CEO of Celtic Woman Ltd. She also starred in the concert titled The Voice of Ireland, featuring fellow Celtic Woman performer Chloë Agnew and former Celtic Thunder member Paul Byrom. On 13 December 2014, she starred in the concert titled A Celtic Christmas, featuring fellow Celtic Woman performer Chloë Agnew, former Celtic Woman choir performer Dermot Kiernan, and former Celtic Thunder member Paul Byrom, along with performances by the Kelly Porter Dance Academy.
In the morning when you rise, I bless the sun, I bless the skies, I bless your lips, I bless your eyes, My blessing goes with you.
In the night-time when you sleep, Oh, I bless you, while a watch I keep, As you lie in slumber deep, My blessing goes with you.
This is my prayer for you, ever true, Each every day for you, in everything you do And when you come to me, and hold me close to you, I bless you and you bless me too.
When your weary heart is tired, If the world should leave you uninspired, When nothing more of love's desired, My blessing goes with you.
When the storms of life are strong, When you're wounded, when you don't belong, When you no longer hear my song, My blessing goes with you.
This is my prayer for you, there for you, ever true, Each every day for you, in everything you do, And when you come to me, and hold me close to you, I bless you and you bless me too I bless you and you bless me too