Darren Culliney

Darren Culliney is an Irish Traditional Musician, Composer and PhD Researcher from Ballinamuck, Co. Longford. He is an accomplished multi-instrumentalist with numerous awards and titles. He grew up surrounded by music and began learning the tin whistle at 5. At the age of 9, he started learning the button accordion and has since become his main instrument of focus. Darren is a proud lilter, having won numerous medals at Fleadh Cheoil throughout the years. He also plays piano and melodeon.
Darren has recently completed the Bachelor’s of Music Degree (BMus) and Master’s in Music Composition at Maynooth University. He is currently undertaking his postgraduate research in Dundalk Institute of Technology where he is a PhD candidate in the Department of Creative Arts, Media and Music. A member of the DkIT Creative Arts Research Centre, he is the beneficiary of a TUTF Postgraduate Research Scholarship and is under the joint supervision of Dr Daithí Kearney and Dr Verena Commins (University of Galway). His research examines the button accordion and Irish traditional music in Ulster.
Darren is actively publicising. Alongside colleague Leandro Pessina, they have recently had a paper published in The Society for Ethnomusicology (SEM) publication. Their paper, ‘Entering a ‘Third Space’ Through Collaborative Fieldwork in Ethnomusicology’, draws on the experiences of two researchers informed by their complementary academic paradigms within ethnomusicology and tourism. Darren has also recently published in ICTM’s ‘Speis’ bulletin.
Darren is an active performer and composer, having performed at festivals and sessions across the island of Ireland and throughout Europe. He is constantly composing new Irish traditional tunes as well as new contemporary works.
Darren Culliney was shortlisted with his brother Cathal for the Molloy Award at the Trip to Birmingham Tradfest 2022. The Molloy Award is a competition aimed at traditional Irish musicians in the UK and Ireland, aged 25 and under. In memory of Anne and Pat Molloy, who were important in passing on the tradition in Birmingham, the award strives to seek out new musical talent and award excellence and innovation within the idiom of Irish Traditional Music and Song and showcase it.
He recently was on tour with ‘Danceperados of Ireland’, an energetic, lively dance show travelling across Germany.
He is currently producing the video series ‘DCulliney’s Weekly Wacky Presentation of Music’, a weekly series presenting music with many talented guest musicians. This series is available on his Facebook, YouTube and TikTok channels.
He is also a member of ‘Lasta’. Lasta is a new traditional Irish band that comprises of three very good friends and talented musicians, which includes Darren (button accordion and keys), Orla Leavy (fiddle) and Jordan Lively (vocals and guitar). They are UCC TradFest’s Battle of the Bands winner for 2023 and are currently working on new music that is due to be released later this year.