Liz Doherty is an Irish fiddler based in

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county of the Republic of Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is the northernmost county of Ireland. The county mostly borders Northern Ireland, sharing only a small b ...

who also recorded and toured with both '' Nomos'' and '' The Bumblebees'' as well as alone.

Biography

Liz Doherty was born in

Buncrana Buncrana ( ; ) is a town in Inishowen in the north of County Donegal in Ulster, the northern Provinces of Ireland, province in Ireland. The town sits on the eastern shores of Lough Swilly, being northwest of Derry and north of Letterkenny. I ...

, Ireland in 1970, the oldest daughter of four girls. Although she was born and raised in the vibrant musical county of Donegal, she hadn't seriously been interested in Irish music performance (despite learning

Irish traditional music Irish traditional music (also known as Irish trad, Irish folk music, and other variants) is a genre of folk music that developed in Ireland. In ''A History of Irish Music'' (1905), W. H. Grattan Flood wrote that, in Gaelic Ireland, there we ...

and dance from a young age); it wasn't until 1987, when she went to

Glencolmcille Glencolmcille or Glencolumbkille () is a small district on the Atlantic coast of southwest County Donegal in Ireland. Named after Saint Colm Cille (Columba), it is also a civil parish in the historic barony of Banagh. Glencolmcille is in the ...

's Fiddle Week, through ''Cairdeas na bhFeidléirí'' (lit., "friendship of fiddlers"), that she fell in love with the tradition, its music and the types of expression that are possible within the style. Liz eventually moved to

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

to attend

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) () is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork (city), Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of three Queen's Universit ...

, and graduated from there with a BMus in 1991 after studying under the late Professor

Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin (; 10 December 1950 – 7 November 2018) was an Irish musician, composer, academic and educationalist. Biography Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin was a pianist, composer, recording artist and academic; he held the Pr ...

. She took on a role as an Irish Traditional Music lecturer at UCC in 1994, where she taught until 2001. Doherty has been a visiting lecturer in

Cape Breton University Cape Breton University (CBU) is a public university located in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is the only post-secondary degree-granting institution within the Cape Breton Regional Municipality and on Cape Breton Island. The university is enabl ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

, Canada as well as

Marshall University Marshall University is a public university, public research university in Huntington, West Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1837 and is named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States, chief justice of the Uni ...

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

, USA. Her 1996 PhD from the

University of Limerick University of Limerick (UL) () is a Public university, public research university institution in Limerick, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Founded in 1972, as the National Institute for Higher Education, Limerick, it became a university in Septemb ...

was on the fiddle traditions of

Cape Breton Island Cape Breton Island (, formerly '; or '; ) is a rugged and irregularly shaped island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The island accounts for 18.7% of Nova Scotia's total area. Although ...

, Nova Scotia. Around the early 2000s, Doherty took time away from academia to record her own music projects and tour. She was a founding member of the Irish music band Nomos, as well as forming a group of fiddlers from UCC's Music Department, better known as Fiddlesticks. She has recorded albums with a number of groups, plus two solo albums: ''Quare Imagination'' (2002) and ''Last Orders'' (2005), both featuring thoughtfully-arranged medleys of tunes composed by Doherty herself as well as other musicians, plus many traditional tunes of Ireland and her native Donegal. Additionally, the albums feature several tunes of Scottish and/or Cape Breton origin, which (due to Scotland's proximity to and history with the north of Ireland) tend to be most well known amongst Donegal and

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

musicians; this unique regional repertoire (an eclectic mix of Irish, Scottish, and Cape Breton tunes), though varying from musician to musician, is one of the main features of the general northern "style" of music. Later in the 2000s saw Doherty returning to academia at the

University of Ulster Ulster University (; Ulster Scots: or ), legally the University of Ulster, is a multi-campus public research university located in Northern Ireland. It is often referred to informally and unofficially as Ulster, or by the abbreviation UU. It i ...

. She is a member of the Culture Ireland Expert Advisory Committee. In 2013 Doherty was involved with the

TG4 TG4 (; , ) is an Irish free-to-air public service television channel. It launched on 31 October 1996 and is available online and through its on-demand service TG4 Player in Ireland and beyond. TG4 was initially known as (TnaG), before bein ...

TV show ''Glaoch An Cheoil''.

References and sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doherty, Liz 1970s births Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Traditional musicians People from Buncrana Irish women fiddlers Irish fiddlers Musicians from County Donegal Alumni of University College Cork 20th-century Irish women musicians 21st-century Irish women musicians Academics of University College Cork Academics of Ulster University 20th-century Irish fiddlers 21st-century Irish fiddlers