Born in West Belfast and coming from a family steeped in traditional music, John focused his energies on the pipes from an early age. By the time he reached fifteen he had two All Ireland Championship titles under his belt and at the age of eighteen he was the youngest ever winner of the much coveted senior 'Oireachtas' piping competition.

John has toured the world as both a solo performer and a member of several outstanding bands. He was a founding member of top trad bands 'Tamalin' and 'Lunasa' as well as a lead instrumentalist with Donal Lunny's ground-breaking supergroup 'Coolfin', which included Sharon SHannan and Nollaig Casey. He is a composer, producer, arranger and established studio session musician of world class renown, recording and performing with everybody from Clannad, Sinead O'Connor and Nancy Griffiths, to Shaun Davey, Dan Ar Braz and Riverdance.

He is currently a member of At First Light with whom he has just released a new album entitled “Trip Switch”.