Aifric Boylan hails from a musical family in County Kildare, Ireland. The eldest of six children, all of whom play traditional music, she began learning the fiddle at the age of five. Much of her childhood was spent travelling to music festivals and fleadhanna across Ireland, learning from some of the country’s finest traditional musicians and becoming immersed in the music from an early age, with success as a young fiddler at All-Ireland level. Before moving to Australia with her family in 2014, Aifric was a respected fiddle teacher and sought-after performer in Ireland.
She has performed for many years with concertina player Ciarán O’Grady, with whom she recorded the duet album The Hunting Room in 2013.
Since settling in Melbourne, Aifric has become a familiar figure in Australia’s Irish traditional music scene, performing and tutoring at many of the country’s major folk festivals. She teaches the next generation of musicians through Comhaltas Melbourne and is co-founder of Ceoltóirí Naarm, the Melbourne-based youth Irish traditional music ensemble, which has performed at major festivals around Australia. In 2026, one of Aifric’s teenage fiddle students travelled to Belfast to compete at the All-Ireland Fleadh Cheoil.
Aifric’s playing draws on the traditions of Clare, Sliabh Luachra and beyond. She particularly enjoys delving into older recordings and tune collections in search of lesser-heard music, and sharing these tunes with others, along with the stories of the people and places behind the music.