"It just feels like we never left," she said Tuesday during a break between rehearsals. "We finished in July at Red Rocks in Denver -- absolutely one of our favorite places to perform -- and we were at home in Ireland with our families and friends for about a month before we flew back for the fall tour."

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"For such a small, little country, for such a small, little island, (Ireland) really has made its mark all over the world," she said. "When we tour here, so many people will come up and say, 'Oh, I'm part Irish' ... That's where their families came from, and the music really connects them to that.

"And Irish is music," she added. "It is so connected to its people. In times of grief and in times of happiness, the Irish always turn to their music."