Music maker based in Ireland.

Ultan is a fiddle/viola player & composer based in County Clare. Ultan has a background in traditional Irish music and improvised music and has played and recorded with acts such as Martin Green (Lau), Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin , Nic Gareiss, Slow Moving Clouds, Skipper’s Alley, Neil Ó Lochlainn’s Cuar, and John Francis Flynn.

In March 2025, Ultan released his debut solo album, Dancing the Line, through Nyahh Records featuring Nic Gareiss, Martin Green and Edwina Guckian.

'There’s an understated virtuosity to these tunes — a weightlessness that lifts the spirit even in their plaintive moments, often propelled by the percussive shuffle of dancer
Nic Gareiss, who taps his way across the album’s floorboards. O’Brien pays tribute to the experimentation that’s always thrived in the tradition, nodding to players like Nell Galvin and Packie Manus Byrne whose singular creative methods inspired his own development as a musician.' — Eoin Murray 

These final tracks, with their found sounds overlaid on ambient soundscapes, owe as much to Brian Eno as to traditional music—which is no bad thing. The result is a stunning and frequently surprising album that presents a vision of music rooted in the traditional genre, yet unafraid to reach beyond its boundaries for inspiration.’— Jim Keaveney