Cecilia first studied music formally at Limerick School of Music where she studied Piano, Recorder and Oboe. She then continued her studies at Trinity College Dublin where she read for the degrees of B.A. in Music and History and M. Phil. in Reformation and Enlightenment Studies. Cecilia concurrently studied Oboe with Albert Soliveres at the D.I.T. (now T.U. Dublin) Conservatoire of Music.

While at Trinity, Cecilia was awarded the Taylor Exhibition and an Entrance Exhibition and she conducted the Trinity Orchestra and the Trinity Chapel Choir with which she had also sung as Choral Scholar. A lifelong interest in choral music and in choral and orchestral conducting was fostered during these years. Cecilia’s first professional position was as Director of Music at St Ann’s Church, Dawson St, Dublin. At this time Cecilia participated in many conducting masterclasses including at Westminster Choir College (Princeton, New Jersey); with the European Academy of Young Choral Conductors (Timmendorf, Germany); at the Civico Liceo Musicale (Verase, Italy) and with the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland before taking up a place as a guest student at the Hochschule für Musik (UdK) Berlin.

Upon her return to Ireland, Cecilia studied to become a Post-Primary teacher of Music and History at the University of Limerick. She was later awarded a Post-Grad. Dip. in Educational Leadership and Management from NUI Maynooth. She taught in the Ursuline School in Waterford and then with Ardscoil Mhuire in Limerick before being appointed to Limerick School of Music as Deputy Principal in 2014. Cecilia was appointed Principal of Limerick School of Music in 2022. As well as her role at LSOM, Cecilia is well known for her work with Ancór, the Limerick –based award-winning chamber choir www.ancor.ie while she has recently been a guest conductor with Limerick Sinfonia and the Limerick Philharmonic Orchestras.