Ireland
Ethnomusicologist, geographer, performer and composer Dr Daithí Kearney is a graduate of University College Cork and currently co-director of the Creative Arts Research Centre at Dundalk Institute of Technology. Best known as a banjo and mandolin player, he is a composer, singer and dancer. He has toured regularly as a musician, singer and dancer with a number of groups including Siamsa Tíre, The National Folk Theatre of Ireland and the DkIT Traditional Music Ensemble. An All-Ireland champion musician (Senior Mandolin 2001), he has also presented the television show Geantraí. A career highlight was a performance for President Obama in The White House on St. Patrick's Day 2009. In 2012 he was Season Director with Siamsa Tíre and in 2013 he performed with the band Southbound at the National Folk Festival, Canberra, Australia. In recent years he has performed in Brazil, France, Norway, Scotland and the USA with Adèle Commins and students from DkIT. An authority on the music of the Sliabh Luachra musical region, he has played regularly with accordion player John Cronin of Glenamucklagh, Taur, Newmarket, Co. Cork. Tunes sourced to John's father, fiddle player DD Cronin, appear on the album 'Midleton Rare' (2011). More recently he released an album of new compositions 'A Louth Lilt' (2016) with Adèle Commins Daithí regularly provides lectures and talks in Ireland and abroad and taught in a number of Primary and Secondary Schools in Ireland. He was an examiner with the London College of Music, has adjudicated at fleadhanna cheoil with Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann. His PhD concentrates on the construction of geographies and regional identities in Irish traditional music. He has published in a variety of journals including Ethnomusicology Ireland, Musicology Review, Chimera and JSMI. He has also contributed articles and chapters to The Encyclopaedia of Music in Ireland; Companion to Irish Traditional Music; Ancestral Imprints; and Spacing Ireland.
A new Centre for Creative Arts Research has been developed at Dundalk Institute of Technology, marking a significant step forward for researchers in the area. This centre represents the merging of the Music research centre Ionad Taighde Ceoil and Creative Media research group with an academic membership of 16 staff members from within the School of Informatics and Creative Arts. The Centre aims to continue to develop a research and scholarship culture which can foster a vibrant postgraduate programme and underpin undergraduate programmes in the Creative Arts at DkIT. The new centre, which, will encompass research in Musicology, Composition and Performance, Media and Cultural Studies, Gaming, Technology and Creative Arts Education will build upon recent work in the area of interdisciplinary research, recognising that research is increasingly expected to be accountable to society and many projects aim to benefit our society and local communities. By continuing to develop and extend collaborative academic, industrial, arts and community links the centre is committed to fulfilling the cultural remit of the Institute to the region and its wider communities.
I teach a variety of courses related to Irish traditional music and facilitate ensemble work.
I have written, directed, produced and performed in a wide variety of productions. I have taught at all levels of the Irish education system from early childhood through Primary, Secondary and Third level through to Adult and Continuing Education. I have tutored in banjo, mandolin and dance and conducted workshops internationally.