The priest just said ‘welcome back’
A returned to the faith musician and frontman with Dublin band Bipolar Empire has said rediscovering Confession was pivotal in what he calls a “second conversion”.
While working on several projects in the last 15 years since the band’s hiatus, Shane O’Reilly from Tallaght in Dublin reshaped his life and music ahead of the group’s return to Electric Picnic 2025, which just ended.
Speaking to The Irish Catholic, Mr O’Reilly described a gradual “re-awakening” of Faith while living in London and working on construction, culminating in a return to Confession after years away from the sacrament.
“I went back to Confession and it was like my whole world exploded,” he said, asking himself “what way have I been living over the last number of years?”
“There was peace,” Mr O’Reilly said, adding that “it didn’t happen overnight now.”
He recalled the welcome he received, “The priest just said, ‘welcome back’. It was quite the opposite of what I feared.”
Mr O’Reilly told The Irish Catholic that practising the faith – especially the sacraments – offers transformation saying: “If you actually participate, your life will be transformed.”
The musician continued saying the encounter brought peace and direction, while he had “been living my own way… now I think God is at the centre”.
Mr O’Reilly spoke about the pressures of late-night gigs and a culture of excess in parts of the music scene, saying faith taught him moderation. “In music there a lot of things… there are no limits,” he said. “I was trying to squash [faith and that lifestyle] together for a long time… but learning moderation and sometimes avoiding certain scenarios helps.”
He also pointed to the influence of lay Catholic groups after a chance encounter in Dublin led him to attend a Legion of Mary meeting, a group which continues to be very important to him.
