Fiacha Heneghan first encountered the violin as an object of awe in Kindergarten. Warned by the music teacher not ruin it with his young fingers, he passed it on fearfully to the next student. It occupied a place of fascination in his mind afterwards, which drew him to begin lessons at age 8.

Born to a musical family in Dublin, he spent much of his life in the Chicago area, where he studied mathematics and philosophy. While teaching and earning a doctorate in philosophy in Nashville, he reunited with the violin as a creative outlet. Upon his return to Chicago, he enrolled in the Chicago School of Violin Making to study with Antoine Nédélec and Jeff Phillips.

Inspired by his teachers’ uncompromisingly artistic approach to the craft, Fiacha sees in making violins a contribution to net beauty in the world, and ultimately an answer to Aristotle’s fundamental question “What makes a good life?” His instruments are tailored toward musicians with equally uncompromising taste and are available through fine violin dealers across the country or directly from the maker. When not building the next one from his home studio, he can be found at William Harris Lee & Co., where he specializes in new making and varnish work.