About Joe

Joe Murphy, a Gaelic singer and teacher residing in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, has a rich background in traditional Irish and Scottish music. With a father from Saint John and a mother from Newfoundland, he grew up listening to these songs daily at home. While studying engineering in Cape Breton, Joe also immersed himself in "ceilidhing" with local traditional musicians in and around Sydney and Christmas Island. He is married to Cathy Gillis, a Broad Cove native with Gaelic-speaking parents, which motivated Joe to become fluent in the language to ask for food and tea in Gaelic.

For over forty years, Joe has been actively involved in the Gaelic community in Nova Scotia, teaching both children and adults. He has taught at St. Mary's University, the Nova Scotia Community College Waterfront Campus, Sgoil Gàidhilig an Ard Bhaile, the Gaelic College, and other locations throughout the Maritimes where people are learning and speaking the Gaelic language. Joe has also performed traditional songs in both Gaelic and English.