Growing up immersed in Irish culture in the Woodlawn section of the Bronx, Ivers "got the fiddle bug" when she was 8. "My parents weren't musicians, but they certainly loved music and would play a lot of recordings when we were growing up in the Bronx apartments, driving our neighbors crazy I'm sure,' she says.
Childhood friend Patty Furlong, who teaches nursing at Dominican College, recalls a talented, determined Ivers who remained friendly and down-to-earth, even as she gained fame for her musical skills. "Eileen was always amazing. We all competed, we all did well, but Eileen took it to the next level,' says Furlong, who plays button accordion — and who teaches, along with several other "girls" from Ivers' childhood gang (Rose Flanagan and Margie Mulvihill) at the Pearl River School of Irish Music. (Teachers Brendan Dolan and Frankie McCormick are also on staff at the school.)
It's likely Ivers could have gone the professional route after high school, but her parents impressed on her the importance of a college education. She won a full scholarship to Iona College, where she majored in math — and where she dreamed of that career with NASA. She's six credits shy of a master's degree, she says, and remains fascinated by mathematics, referring to it as "a beautiful discipline."
But Ivers has a good excuse for taking a break from her studies. For three years, she played a wireless violin with "Riverdance,' making her debut in London and playing a series of sold-out shows at Radio City. Some said she was crazy to leave just before the show moved to Broadway, but Ivers had her reasons. "I felt like I wanted to creatively move on,' she says. "It was a good time to get into the next phase of my life."
While life is hectic these days, she's established a second home on the land her father owned in County Mayo, Ireland, and travels there a few times a year for a much-needed break. At home in West Nyack, she and Mulligan recently added a recording studio, Musical Bridge, where she just laid down a few tracks for a coming album from Cherish the Ladies, the group that Ivers founded with Joanie Madden in the 1980s.
It's important to Ivers that a new generation learn the traditions that were such a strong part of her upbringing, she says — which means she generally showcases young performers at every show. For her concert at Dominican College, she'll be joined by students from the Broesler School of Irish Dance and the Pearl River School of Irish Music.
But it's not about her and it's not about the kids.
"The big stars really are the Irish people and the folks, like my parents, who came here with not a lot,' says Ivers. "I have such admiration for what they did and what they instilled in all of us. To learn this music and dancing, and to pass it on, we're very lucky to do what we do."