Her singing is a prominent element of Celtic Woman's first three albums, Celtic Woman, Celtic Woman: A Christmas Celebration, and Celtic Woman: A New Journey. In 2005, Méav was expecting her first child and took maternity leave and was replaced by Deirdre Shannon. In 2006, she returned to record the New Journey CD and DVD and toured extensively with the group in the US and Japan in 2006 and 2007. She has been featured in Celtic Woman: The Greatest Journey Essential Collection. In 2007, following the filming of Celtic Woman's Christmas DVD at the Helix, Dublin, she left the group to concentrate on her solo career. She appeared with Celtic Woman again when she featured as a guest soloist on their Christmas album Home for Christmas. Méav was also featured in the Celtic Woman PBS special, "Home for Christmas", which was recorded on 7 August 2013. Before the recording of Destiny, she became Celtic Woman's vocal director and occasionally appears as a special guest/substitute. Máiréad Nesbitt Máiréad Nesbitt is an Irish classical and Celtic music performer, most notably as a violinist. In 2004, she was invited to play for a performance at the Helix Theatre in Dublin, called "Celtic Woman." She is featured on nine of the group's albums to date: Celtic Woman, Celtic Woman: A Christmas Celebration, Celtic Woman: A New Journey, Celtic Woman: The Greatest Journey, Celtic Woman: Songs from the Heart, Celtic Woman: Lullaby, Celtic Woman: Believe, and Celtic Woman: Home for Christmas, and Destiny. On 7 August 2016, it was announced that Nesbitt would be stepping away to focus on her own projects. Deirdre Shannon Deirdre Shannon is an Irish singer who has also toured with other Celtic music groups, such as Anúna, and Celtic Thunder. She has also been a principal singer in the group but was never featured in the studio DVDs. She joined the group as a stand-in during the first Celtic Woman tour in 2005 after Méav's first child was born. Alex Sharpe Alex Sharpe is an Irish performer known for her musical roles. When founding member Lisa Kelly went on maternity leave, Sharpe became a temporary member in 2008. In 2009, Sharpe became a permanent member, in effect replacing Órla Fallon. She has toured with the group on their 2009 Isle of Hope tour, and recorded the CD and DVD for Songs from the Heart, released in January 2010. The group