Bríd Ní Mhaoilchiaráin is a daughter of Bairbre Éinniú and Peadar Ó Maoilchiaráin from An Aird Thoir, Carna, County Galway. She learned most of her songs from her mother. Her great uncle, singer Joe Heaney greatly influenced her singing. She was fortunate, as a young girl to have known the local exemplary exponents of sean-nós singing and they always inspired a younger generation to pass on the songs and to keep the tradition alive. As a young girl she participated in Féile Joe Éinniú and Feis Charna. In the year 2000 she began to take part in the Oireachtas competition where she won Corn Uí Riada in 2002 and in 2015. She was the first person to be appointed Sean-Nós Singer in Residence at the National University Ireland, Galway in 2002.

A primary school teacher, she has taught in the school in An Aird since 1998, a school she attended as a pupil from 1982 to 1990. Bríd is married to Tommie Breathnach and they have five children. They live in Roisín na Mainiach, Carna.