Professor Mick Moloney

Global Distinguished Professor of Irish Studies and Music

Mick Moloney combines the careers of professional musician, musicologist, record producer, teacher and arts presenter, consultant and advocate. He holds an M.A. in Economics and Politics from University College Dublin and a Ph.D. in Folklore and Folklife from the University of Pennsylvania. Professor Moloney has taught at the University of Pennsylvania, Georgetown University, Boston College, Villanova University and New York University. He published Far From the Shamrock Shore: The Story of Irish American History Through Song (Random House, 2002) and an accompanying CD on Shanachie Records. Professor Moloney has recorded and produced over fifty albums of traditional music and has acted as advisor for scores of festivals and concerts all over the United States. His most recent album, McNally’s Row of Flats, was awarded top Irish traditional music album of the year. In 2009, he co-edited the dance book Close to the Floor (Macater Press). Professor Moloney has served on National Endowment for the Arts panels on folk, minority and community arts. He also served as the Artistic Director for several major national and international arts tours including The Green Fields of America. He directed and coordinated major American multicultural dance festivals that toured West Africa and South and Central America under the auspices of the United States Information Agency. Professor Moloney has hosted, consulted, musically arranged and/or performed in numerous television and film productions, including Irish television’s Bringing It All Back Home, the PBS documentary film Out of Ireland, and the 1998 PBS special The Irish in America: Long Journey Home. In 1999, he was awarded the National Heritage Award from the National Endowment for the Arts, the highest official honor a traditional artist can receive in the United States. View short bio