Deirdre Ní Chonghaile is a fiddler-player from the Aran Islands. She researches the music, song and dance of the Aran Islands and is writing a book about the collecting of traditional music in Ireland. She is the co-ordinator of the Amhráin Árann - Aran Songs project, which aims to publish all of the songs composed in the Aran Islands (http://aransongs.blogspot.ie/). She is also researching sean-nós song manuscripts created among the Irish diaspora in Pennsylvania by Fr. Daniel J. Murphy in 1884-1924, around the time Chief Francis O'Neill was collecting instrumental music in Chicago. Deirdre recently recorded for a recording/film project by the University of Notre Dame. Since 2011, she has appeared on a number of occasions as musical director and performer for silent film screenings by the Irish Film Institute. She also works closely with documentary filmmakers on a wide range of topics that resonate with life in the West of Ireland.
