A violinist and fiddle player since the age of six, Máiréad grew up surrounded by a huge variety of musical influences. The diversity of her musical influences is as much a testament to her abundantly musical childhood as it is to her unique playing style of today.

As Solo Celtic Violinist in the group, Máiréad’s last CD Destiny was nominated for a Grammy. Her playing bridges the gulf between classical and traditional. A former All-Ireland fiddle champion, Máiréad began Music at home & at the Ursuline Convent in Thurles and continued at The Waterford Institute of Technology & the Cork School of Music, under Cornelia Zanidache. She went on to postgraduate studies at London’s Royal Academy of Music and at Trinity College of Music, under Emanuel Hurwitz & a past member of the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland.

Having begun her career as violinist with the RTÉ National Concert Orchestra, she was awarded Irish Music Magazine’s ‘Best Traditional Female’ award in 2003. She has gone on to perform with an impressive list of luminaries: Nigel Kennedy, Van Morrison, Sinéad O’Connor, Emmylou Harris, Chris De Burgh, Jimmy Webb, Donal Lunny, Coolfin, Sharon Shannon, Frances Black, Cooney and Begley and Jimmy McCarthy. Original solo violinist for the shows Lord of the Dance and Feet of Flames, this list — with its mixture of classical, traditional and contemporary — is a useful illustration of Máiréad’s unwillingness to be confined to any one genre or style.
It was this impressive amalgamation of seemingly irreconcilable forms in her playing which Máiréad to be invited to become a soloist for Celtic Woman.
She is featured soloist on the soundtracks of Disney’s Tinker Bell, and Tinker Bell The Lost Treasure.
Versatility & distinctiveness of style in different genres of music & featured soloist on many shows, DVD’s, CD’s, Movies, TV and Radio shows.
Composed tracks on Hibernia, Raining Up, Drumbelieveable . Member of Coolfin and the Afro Celt Sound System.