Prestigious honour for Dundalk singer Maria Doyle Cuche

Dundalk born singer Maria Doyle Cuche was among the 13 recipients of a Distinguished Service Award for the Irish Abroad for 2023. President Michael D Higgins presented her with the award last Tuesday in Arás an Uachtaráin.

Maria, who now lives in France, is blind and was presented with the award for Inclusion and Equality for her advocacy for the blind. Born in 1965 to a single mother in a Magdalene Laundry, Maria would go on to live a happy life in Cox’s Demesne before going blind at nine years of age.
Despite this she decided to follow her dream of becoming a professional singer and would go on to represent Ireland at the 1987 Maria represented Ireland at the 1985 Eurovision Song Contest under the name ‘Maria Christian’. Finishing in sixth place with her song ‘Wait until the weekend comes’.

Maria met her French husband in Ireland and in 1992 she left Ireland for France where she would raise seven children in a small rural village in East France called Lorraine.

In recent years Maria has received huge praise and a number of awards for her autobiography ‘One Can Only Truly See With The Heart’ which was published by a major French publishing house. In 2020 she received a standing ovation on French TV when she sang Danny Boy live in front of an audience of millions watching on TV on ‘Voice France.

Since then she has sang at a number of high profile events and has become an ambassador for ‘Voir Ensemble’ which advocates for both the blind and visually impaired.

This entry was posted in Articles. Bookmark the permalink.

Comments are closed.