Ceoltóir agus amhránaí is ea Ciarán Ó Gealbháin, a thug tamall leis an ngrúpa ceoil traidisiúnta, Danú. Cúlra aige i léiritheoireacht teilifíse: chaith roinnt bhlianta ag obair mar mhaor fuaime agus mar eagarthóir/stiúrthóir leis an gcomhlacht teilifíse Nemeton Teo. Bhain céim sa Léann Dúchais agus sa Ghaeilge ó COC sa bhliain 2006 agus cáilíocht mhúinteoireachta an bhliain dar gceann. Chaith seal ag obair mar mhúinteoir meánscoile, sarar fhill sé an athuair ar Roinn an Bhéaloidis, COC, mar a scríobh sé tráchtas dochtúireachta ar ghnéithe éagsúla de thraidisiún amhránaíochta na nDéise. Tá sé mar Cheann Roinne, Roinn an Bhéaloidis, Scoil Léann na Gaeilge, COC faoi láthair, agus múineann sé ar chúrsaí céime na Roinne – Béaloideas agus Folklore. Tá ar dhuine d'eagarthóirí Béascna, Iris Bhéaloideasa agus Eitneolaíochta COC, ó 2007 i leith, agus is é eagarthóir sinsearach na hirise céanna sin ó 2012.  

Ciarán Ó Gealbháin is a musician and singer, who has travelled extensively in the past with the Irish traditional music group, Danú. With a background in television production, he worked for a number of years as a sound technician and editor/director with the TV production company Nemeton Teo. Graduating from UCC in 2006 with a degree in Gaeilge and An Léann Dúchais, he completed the PGDE in 2007 and, following a brief period teaching at second level, returned to UCC and Roinn an Bhéaloidis/the Dept. of Folklore and Ethnology, where he conducted doctoral research into various aspects of the song tradition of his native county of Waterford. He is currently Head of Department, Folklore and Ethnology, in the School of Irish Learning, UCC, and lectures on the Béaloideas and Folklore programmes. He has co-edited Béascna: UCC Journal of Folklore and Ethnology since 2007, acting as senior editor to the Journal since 2012.

Tá suim á cur agam le fada i dtraidisiún amhránaíochta na hÉireann, agus go háirithe san amhránaíocht mar a chleachtaítí agus mar a chleactaítear fós i gcontae Phort Láirge í. Féachtar sa tráchtas dochtúireachta agam ar cheisteanna a bhaineann le seachadadh agus le sealbhú na n-amhrán i measc an phobail, le béim faoi leith ar cheantar na Déise. Cuirim spéis i bhfás agus i dteacht chun cinn an Rómánsachais agus an náisiúnachais ar Mhór-roinn na hEorpa agus in Éirinn, agus cíoraim mar a chuaigh na gluaiseachtaí sin i bhfeidhm ar chnuasaitheoirí amhrán agus ar stór amhrán na ndaoine i bhfad na haimsire. Tá suim dá réir sin agam i dteacht chun cinn an Rómánsachais agus i bpréamhacha an náisiúnachais is léann an dúchais, in Éirinn agus i dtíortha nach í; agus i stair léann an bhéaloidis is na heitneolaíochta trí chéile.     

I have long held an interest in the Irish song tradition and in particular that of the Déise area. My doctoral thesis comprises an archival and ethnographic-based study of the song tradition of the county of Waterford, with a particular focus on the Gaeltacht area of that county. Song transmission and acquisition within the community are examined with regard to repertoire, performance and style through extensive archival and field research. I have a particular interest in the rise of Romanticism and nationalism as European-wide phenomena particularly in the 19th and early 20th century, and in how these movements informed not only the efforts of those involved in the collection and publication of Irish song in the past, but also, over time, the repertoire as practiced in the community today.

Múinim cúrsaí éagsúla a labhrann ar: seánraí éagsúla san insint bhéil; teoiricí éagsúla i léann an bhéaloidis; bailiú an bhéaloidis in Éirinn; timthriall na beatha agus na bliana sa tsochaí traidisiúnta; an creideamh tíre; fás agus teacht chun cinn léann an bhéaloidis in Éirinn agus san Eoraip, srl. 

I teach on a number of courses relating to: various genres of oral narrative; methods and theories in the discipline of folklore; folklore collecting in Ireland; folklife and Irish calendar customs; folk belief; the development of the disciplines of folklore and ethnology in both an Irish and a European context, etc.

Maidir leis na cúrsaí a bhfuil baint agam leo, féach led thoil, na modúil seo a leanas i Leabhar na Modúl, UCC. For a sample of the courses on which I teach, please see the following in the UCC Book of Modules:

BD1001: Béaloideas – Scéal, Nós is Ealaín

FL1004: Introduction to Irish Folklore

FL2015: Singers and Songs in Irish Tradition

FL2012: Exploring the Otherworld – Popular Beliefs and Symbols

FL3013: Studying Stories – Theory and Method