Deirdre Murphy

Deirdre’s music has been featured on RTE Radio One’s playlists, has been played on the Ronan Collins and John Creedon shows, Late Date with Cathal Murray, and more than 65 radio stations worldwide. Her work was recently featured on RTE’s Nationwide, and she and her band delivered an electrifying performance at the 2022 Electric Picnic and more recently in the Irish Museum of Modern Art (July 2023). She released her debut album Matriotism on Bandcamp in September 2022, and will bring it to streaming services in September 2023. The album has been described as “Tori Amos meets Amanda Palmer meets Joni Mitchell.”  

Sweet and Strong was recorded in Dublin with Oli Ryan as producer and engineer, and features Deirdre Murphy on lyrics, song and vocals, Claire Fitch on cello and Oli Ryan on guitar, double bass and percussion. The video, available on youtube, showcases the acrobatic camaraderie of Deirdre Murphy, Sean Kelly and Zsófia Ruszkai. Captured in a beautiful rose garden by filmmaker Hannah Bloom, the video shows the deep bond formed through physical play. Gorgeous textures, colors and light add to the overall feeling of buoyancy gracefully played out on the screen.

Deirdre Murphy is a musician and interdisciplinary artist. She grew up in rural Alaska with a profound connection to nature, and lived and travelled throughout the US before moving to Ireland. She is the creator of many original works of music, dance, theatre, circus, and performance art, including the circus musical “Capitalism: The Musical” (2017) which toured Ireland and Italy to sold out houses and has been translated into Italian. 

Deirdre comes to music after a lifetime of making and studying performance in multiple genres, originating from her first passion in dance and the body. She plays guitar and ukulele and uses a loop station and DAW, and writes and performs spoken word vignettes integrating loop station and live music. She is known for the poetry and wordplay of her lyrics. 

Deirdre wrote the circus musical Capitalism: The Musical, a synthesis of work in theatre, circus, dance, music and activism. It has been translated into Italian and toured Italy and Ireland and has recently been invited back into production. She has a long history of being involved in activist social centres, the abortion rights movement, and climate activism. She is in Praxis the artist’s union and CATU, the tenants union, and has been part of many direct actions. 

Deirdre has a consistent daily voice practice and physical practice which includes handstands, training, stretching, and running. She has taught yoga for 18 years and acroyoga for 12 years and trained since childhood in many dance and movement techniques, giving her an extensive knowledge of anatomy and love for movement. She teaches handstands, yoga, ballet, voice, and is a somatic coach. She has worked as an aerialist, taught acrobatics internationally at circus festivals and workshops, and has worked in costume design, sound design, and jewelry design. She makes her own merchandise. Her work in dance has toured and performed in Canada, Germany, Italy, the UK and the USA.  

Through her creative practice, Deirdre aspires to present the ideal of each individual’s right to the very highest level of human rights - while engaging in comical mishaps, awkward timing etc.