Caitríona O'Leary - voice
Christopher Layer - flute and uilleann pipes
Robert Mealy - fiddle
Jay Elfenbein - violin
Mel Mercier, bodhrán and bones

Caitríona O'Leary formed Dúlra in 1998 to perform Irish song in a new way. Featuring musicians expert in Traditional Irish and Early Music, Caitríona and Dúlra strip away the varnish of contemporary style to bring the innate, modal beauty of the music into clear focus. This fresh approach is applied to songs and dance tunes from the living, orally-transmitted traditional repertoire as well as from 17th and 18th century written sources.

Caitríona O'Leary and Dúlra live performances are theatrically lit and staged, presenting audiences with a hauntingly beautiful and original musical experience.

Dúlra is the Irish for "elements" and the name expresses the group's commitment to peeling away cluttering layers and finding the core of the music. Also evoked is green, budding nature, bursting with potential and life.

Caitríona O'Leary is well-known in the early music world for her performances and many recordings with Sequentia and The Harp Consort, and in traditional circles for her solo performances of Irish song; Christopher Layer is renowned for his traditional Irish, Scottish and American flute and bagpipe playing and tours extensively with the Trinity Dance Company; Robert Mealy is an esteemed violinist, very well-known for both his recordings and performances with Sequentia, The King's Noyse, Fortune's Wheel and Les Arts Florissants; Jay Elfenbein's great improvisational skills were honed during his many years as a jazz bassist before he turned his talents to early music, today he is one of the most highly sought after viol players in North America; Mel Mercier is one of the world's foremost performers of Irish bodhrán and bones, and a lecturer in ethnomusicology at University College, Cork.

Caitríona O'Leary and Dúlra's debut CD, Dúil, Irish Songs of Love and Nature was released in Spring 2000 on EMI/Virgin Classics. In November 2000 their second CD, I am Stretched on Your Grave, was released by BMG/DHM.