Shania Twain has been presented with a bespoke guitar that celebrates her Irish heritage by EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum. The unique instrument represents Twain's rich ancestry through intricate artwork by Irish illustrator David Rooney.
The presentation of this guitar at Malahide Castle in the Republic of Ireland was in celebration of Twain playing to Irish audiences in Cork, Belfast, and Dublin last month.
During the guitar presentation, Aileesh Carew, CEO of EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum, highlighted Twain's importance for Ireland.
“Shania, you are a prime example of the global impact of Irish emigration,” he said. “We are proud to present this bespoke genealogy to you, told in a new and innovative way.”
The Telecaster-style guitar, handmade by Ukraine's Woodstock Guitars, was the result of Rooney's intensive search for the perfect guitar to host the artwork he had in mind. “It was urgent. Salvation came at Everest Music, Bray – just down the road from where I live,” recounts Rooney in an interview with Hotpress.
“Hardly five minutes into a conversation with in-house luthier Mark Walsh, he pointed to a pale pink Tele-style guitar on the wall. Hand-made by Woodstock, in the Ukraine, and beautifully aged with a light relic finish and dull hardware, it seemed perfect. Furthermore, it played beautifully.”
Rooney then went on to use pyrography (an art technique for decorating wood with burn marks) to engrave several elements that represent Twain's family history.
This included the Triskele, an ancient Celtic symbol found at Newgrange, County Meath; Kilkenny Castle, symbolizing her ancestor Thomas Edwards, a soldier at Waterloo who became a ‘military settler’ in Canada; and the salmon, representing Twain’s return to Ireland and wisdom in Irish mythology.
In her 2011 autobiography, From This Moment On, Twain revealed her Irish heritage. She shared that she was named after her Irish grandmother, Eilleen Pearce, who was born in County Kildare and played a significant role in her upbringing.
