About

Areas of Interest:

I’m an ethnomusicologist, Irish music specialist, and popular music scholar with research interests in: Ethnicity, Identity, Nationalism and Cosmopolitanism; Folk, Traditional, Celtic, and Popular Musics of Ireland, UK, North America, and Australia; Music and Songs of Social Protest; Music and the Utopian Impulse; and Urban Soundscapes and Critical Citizenship. I’m based in the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at the University of Limerick. I’ve spent Autumn 2017 as a visiting fellow at the Keough-Naughton Institute of Irish Studies, University of Notre Dame, and Spring 2018 as a research fellow in King’s College, London

Professional qualifications:

PhD in Ethnomusicology, University of Chicago: ‘Sound Tracts, Songlines, and Soft Repertoires: Irish Music, Performance, and the City of Chicago.’ (2009)

MA in Irish Music Studies, University of Limerick, Ireland: ‘The Ivory Bridge: The Introduction of the Piano to 78rmp Recordings of Irish Music in America, c. 1910-1945.’ (2000)

B.Mus, University College Cork, National University of Ireland.

Professional memberships:

ICTM (International Council for Traditional
ICTM Ireland (International Council for Traditional Music, Ireland)
ACIS (American Conference for Irish Studies)
SEM (Society for Ethnomusicology)
SAM (Society American Music)
IASPM (International Association for the Study of Popular Music)

External editorial roles:

Series editor – Popular Musics Matter (Rowman and Littlefield International) since 2017.
Series editor – Power, Discourse and Society (Rowman and Littlefield International) since 2015.
Deputy Editor, Journal of International Council for Traditional Music, Ireland, since 2015
Editorial Board Member, Journal of ICTM Ireland since 2013.
Editorial Board Member, Journal of the Society for Musicology in Ireland, 2007-2010.
Peer-reviewer for Applied Ethnomusicology since 2015.
Peer-reviewer for Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy since 2014.
Peer-reviewer for Music and Medicine since 2013.
Peer-reviewer for New Hibernai Review/Iris Éireannach Nua, (University of St. Thomas), since 2013.
Peer-reviewer for Yearbook for Traditional Music (Journal of the International Council for Traditional Music ICTM) since 2013.
Peer-reviewer for Ethnomusicology (Journal of the Society for Ethnomusicology SEM), since 2012.

External professional roles:

Board member of the Irish Fulbright Alumni Association 2015-2016.
Board member of the Irish Humanities Alliance working advocacy and policy advisory group, 2013- 2017.
Co-convener of ‘Celtic Music’ special interest group (SIG) for SEM, Society for Ethnomusicology 2012-2014.
Adjudicator for the National Undergraduate Dissertation Competition, Society for Musicology in Ireland.
Board Member of the Society for Musicology in Ireland, 2007-2010.
Board Member of the Irish Traditional Music Archive, Dublin, Ireland, 2006-2009.
Founding Member, International Council for Traditional Music (ICTM) Ireland, 2003.

Awards/Funding:

O’Donnell Irish Studies Research Fellowship, Newman College, University of Melbourne, 2015-2016.
Irish American Cultural Institute Research Grant, 2002-2003.
Century Fellowship Recipient, University of Chicago, 1998-2003.
Fulbright Scholarship, University of Chicago, 1998-2003.