Ultan O'Brien

Ultan is a fiddle/viola player & composer based in County Clare. Ultan has a background in traditional Irish music and improvised music and performs as a soloist and in duos and bands with Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin, Martin Green (Lau), Nic Gareiss, Laura Jurd, Slow Moving Clouds, Neil Ó Lochlainn’s Cuar, and John Francis Flynn. In March 2025, Ultan released his debut solo album, Dancing the Line, through Nyahh Records featuring Nic Gareiss, Martin Green and Edwina Guckian.

'There’s an understated virtuosity to these tunes — a weightlessness that lifts the spirit even in their plaintive moments, often propelled by the percussive shuffle of dancer Nic Gareiss, who taps his way across the album’s floorboards. O’Brien pays tribute to the experimentation that’s always thrived in the tradition, nodding to players like Nell Galvin and Packie Manus Byrne whose singular creative methods inspired his own development as a musician.’ Eoin Murray

Photo by Milena