Cliona was classically trained in Dublin at the Royal Irish Academy of Music where she studied both the Irish and Concert Harp. During this time she won several competitions such as the Feis Ceoil and the Adare Harp Competition. As well as solo performances she also worked with two Dublin orchestras. Cliona produced and played the harp for several theatrical productions.

Outside of Ireland Cliona performed in Scotland, Luxembourg, Brussels, Dallas, New York and Sydney. In New York she played the harp live on PBS radio for part of a 16 hour reading of James Joyce’s ULYSSES on Bloomsday.

Since settling here in Australia, Cliona played the harp in the Aida orchestra in 1989 and performed solo in the Opera House at a concert of the Brendan Voyage.

More than anything Cliona loves to play the harp with other musicians. She enjoys formal and informal sessions of traditional and contemporary music. Cliona has been playing mainly irish music with a singer and flute player Chris Wheeler performing at the Sydney Opera House Utzon Room in 2007 as Cliona and Chris

More recently has also been performing with Venezuelan cuatro player Ivan Vivas They have played together as the Latin String Ensemble at the South American Festival in Bondi as well as Cafe Carnivale. Playing with a wonderful musician like Iván has given her playing so much energy. She is also indebted to mexican harpist Victor Valdes for teaching her so much about harp music from South America.