Michael Dinan was a carpenter in Maghera.  Michael’s mother was a noted local musician who played the concertina and lived to the age of 106.  Michael himself was known locally as a great fiddler.

Michael made his own fiddle, which he crafted himself.

Note the unusual triangular shape of Michael’s fiddle.  It is his own design.  The craftsmanship of the instrument is remarkable, and Michael used pieces of bog oak, ancient wood which has been preserved in Ireland’s peat bogs, for particular parts of the fiddles he builds.

Michael’s fiddling appears on a compact disc entitled Music and Songs From East Clare.  The liner notes for the compact disc mention that Michael built his first fiddle when he was 16.