Éilís Crean

I'm one of only four fiddle players worldwide who play purely in the East Galway Irish Music Tradition (EGIMT) — a listening tradition characterised by long, flowing bow strokes, lyrical phrasing, and a preference for the lower, sweeter tones of the fiddle. Less ornamentation, more soul.

I learned this style the way it has always been passed down: by ear, in a sitting room in Castlerea, County Roscommon, from master fiddler Eddie Kelly. For years, I sat on a woven stool beneath a crooked deer ornament while Eddie played and I absorbed — not just the notes, but the breathing, the phrasing, the way each tune was meant to move.

Eddie entrusted me with all twenty-one of his compositions before he passed, along with the Paddy Fahey tunes he taught me over the years. I've released two albums of this music — The Lonesome Fiddler and Searbh Siúcra — and published This Is Your Life: A Tribute to Eddie Kelly to preserve his legacy. My third album and companion memoir, Draíocht: And Then Came the Quiet, will be released in Spring 2026 and will include comprehensive bowing notation for this tradition.

I also teach Irish, with a focus on Connacht Irish and TEG exam preparation. For me, the language and the music are inseparable — teanga an cheoil, the language of the music.

I teach the way Eddie Kelly taught me: by ear, phrase by phrase, with patience. We'll work on one tune at a time until it lives in your hands.

My lessons focus on what almost nobody teaches: the bowing. The notes are only half the story. The East Galway sound lives in the bow arm — the long strokes, the slurring, the phrasing that lets a tune breathe. If you've been learning Irish fiddle and something doesn't quite sound right, the bowing is almost certainly why.

I tailor each lesson to where you are and what you need. Whether you're an intermediate fiddler wanting to deepen your understanding of traditional Irish style, a classical violinist crossing over into trad, or someone who's been piecing together East Galway bowing from videos and wants proper guidance — I can help.

I also welcome concertina players and other instrumentalists who want to understand EGIMT phrasing. The principles translate.