Michelle Mulcahy hails from the renowned Mulcahy family of Abbeyfeale, Co. Limerick and is considered to be one of Ireland’s most talented multi-instrumentalists in Irish traditional music today and her talent has earned her world wide recognition. Michelle’s array of instrumental mastery spans concertina, harp, fiddle, accordion, piano and melodeon.

Michelle is considered to be one of Ireland’s most adroit and creative harpers. She is amuch sought after performer, tutor and lecturer at music festivals and music schools worldwide and has toured extensively around the globe. Michelle has six highly acclaimed albums recorded by American record label Shanachie and Irish record label Cló-Iar Chonnacht with her father Mick Mulcahy and sister Louise. Michelle’s two solo harp albums ‘Suaimhneas’ and her recent album ‘Lady on the Island’ have both received worldwide acclaim as two of the top harp albums in Irish Traditional Music. Her 2023 solo harp release ‘Lady on the Island’ was hailed as a ‘masterpiece’ and ‘as one of the most important recordings in recent Irish music history’.

Michelle was nominated for an RTÉ Folk Award for Best Folk Instrumentalist at the RTÉRadio 1 Folk Awards in 2024. the album she recorded with her father Mick and sister Louise, ‘The Reel Note’,was awarded the prestigious award of Trad-Connects Traditional Album of the Year in 2017. In 2023 Michelle, Louise and father Mick were awarded the TG4 Gradam Ceoil award not only for their musicianship but for the outstanding contribution they have made to Irish traditional music. Michelle was also recently awarded the prestigious Ciarán MacMathúna bursary commission by Limerick City & County Council to compose a musical work to commemorate the centenary of the birth of the legendary RTÉ music broadcaster and collector Ciarán MacMathúna. The work was premiered in November 2025 in King John’s Castle, Limerick.

Michelle has received numerous national All Ireland Titles and international awards for her musicianship as well as numerous scholarships during her course of academic studies. She was awarded the prestigious TG4 Young Musician of the Year in 2006 and was also awarded Female Musician of the Year in 2005 and again in 2013 at the Live-Ireland awards in the United States for her album, Suaimhneas. An award winning multi-instrumentalist from a musical family steeped in tradition, Michelle possesses a unique musicality in her playing, ‘music that is played with superb clarity, beautiful melodic expression and innate musicality’- Live Ireland.

Michelle is also a much sought after performer, tutor and lecturer at music festivals worldwide and has toured extensively around the globe. Her ground breaking PhD research topic titled ‘Aistear-Performing Cultural Encounter: An Arts Practice Investigation of the Karen, Burmese and Irish Harping traditions’ was the first of its kind in research publication which explored the harp traditions of Myanmar and Ireland.

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