Brian was born in the small seaside town of Clonakilty in West Cork in 1957, the second youngest in a family of nine kids. His dad, Jim, was a butcher and mother, Joan, a full-time - and then some - homemaker. 

On graduation from University College Cork in 1978, he moved to London during a period when the city was teeming with Irish emigrants. The traditional Irish music scene was thriving there, and he found myself very drawn to the music. 

When Brian immigrated to the U.S. in 1980, he had intended to stay in Boston for three weeks. But his best-laid plans were shelved when he met singer Lindsay Henes at a session in a pub, The Village Coach House in Brookline Village. They got engaged after three days.

From 1982 - 1984, he attended grad school at Emerson College, where he indulged a keen interest in radio and broadcasting. During grad school, he broadcast on WERS, Emerson's college radio station. From the various fund-raisers and festivals he produced, Brian developed a fondness for organizing concerts. He consulted on a project for the Patriots at their stadium in Foxboro in 1984. It was successful, and he was delighted for the offer of a full-time job shortly afterwards. He became the Stadium General Manager in 1987. Up to 2001, he worked on large-scale concerts, NFL football, World Cup Soccer, and eventually helped found and run Major League Soccer. His last involvement was in assisting with the early development of the new stadium.  

In 2001, he decided to shift my professional focus back to media, arts, and broadcasting even during the years of his unexpected sports and entertainment career, when he had been hosting a weekly radio program on WGBH. Since 2001, he has given A Celtic Sojourn, a straight forward weekly broadcast on WGBH radio, much scope. In addition to producing his yearly Christmas Celtic Sojourn, he presents several concert series throughout the year. These include A St. Patrick's Day Celtic Sojourn, Summer Celtic Roots and Branches, the Rockport Celtic Festival, and a weekly club presentation from the Backroom of the Burren. Increasingly, yearly tours of Celtic countries have included Scotland, Ireland, and Galicia in Northern Spain; regular member events at WGBH studios have proliferated.