Kathleen Nesbitt was born in the Roscommon / South Sligo / Leitrim area which is renowned for fiddle playing. Her mother and uncle were great fiddle players and as a child she was steeped in the local tradition. Inspiring and renowned musicians of this area, as well as Tipperary and Clare, influenced her and made a lasting impression on the young fiddle player.
In Dublin, at Church Street and the Pipers Club, Kathleen was part of a rich and rewarding era in Irish music.

Kathleen won the Oireachtas Gold Medal for Fiddle, and with her husband, John, the Oireachtas Duet Competition at a time when the list of competitors read like a who's who of Irish music.

She was at this time an early member of the Castle Céili Band.

Moving to Tipperary in 1967 she began teaching music and became one of the most well-known music teachers in Ireland and abroad. Her pupils in Loughmore won honours at all levels in fiddle, flute, band and group playing, including multiple All-Ireland Champion awards at Fleadh Ceoil na h'Éireann. Always known for her inclusivity in teaching, her pupils, local and from far and wide, credit Kathleen and John for their ongoing passion for Irish Traditional Music.
Kathleen and John were honored for their teaching of over fifty years in Loughmore in 2023.

Author of the renowned FIDIL, the Irish Traditional Music Fiddle tutorial book and CD, Kathleen lectured at Scoil Éigse from 1983, the intensive masterclasses run prior to Fleadh Ceoil na h'Éireann by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann.

Kathleen has toured internationally performing in the USA, Canada, Iceland and France. Performing in the Virtuosi Irlandais Recital at the Festival Interceltique de Lorient in Brittany, Kathleen held masterclasses there with her husband John where they were honored for over twenty five years of teaching.

In 1980, Kathleen took part in the newly inaugurated course designed for Comhaltas by Micheál Ó h’Eidhin, the TTCT, an Teastas I dTeagasc Ceolta Tíre. On receiving the Honours Advanced Diploma, Kathleen went on to tutor, assess and lecture on the course until her retirement in 2020.

Kathleen is on the board of the Scrúdú Ceoil Tíre, the SCT Examination System. This examination system, graded up to grade eight and Advanced Diploma level, is the first of its kind in Irish Traditional Music and World Music in general. 

Kathleen was appointed Trustee General of Comhaltas Ceolteóirí Éireann in 2022 and is Ceannaire of An Coiste Oideacas, a subcommittee of the Árd Comhairle.

In 2022 Kathleen was honored with the Gradam an Chomhaltais Lifetime Achievement Award at Cultúrlann na h'Éireann, Monkstown, Dublin. Kathleen also received the Gradam Tiobraid Árann at Brú Ború, Cashel, Co. Tipperary and is delighted to be one of the illustrious recipients of the Féile Oriel Elders of Fiddling Awards 2024.