Dan Milner is the son of Nora Mary Cremin of Brosna, Co. Kerry and William Milner of Birmingham, England. He is a collector, researcher and singer of traditional Irish and Irish-American songs; and an author, teacher, journalist, and a former ranger in the National Park Service at the Statue of Liberty National Monument and the Ellis Island Immigration Museum.

Milner received his B.A. (2007) and M.A. (2009) in human geography from Hunter College (CUNY), and his Ph.D. (2017) in American and Canadian studies from the University of Birmingham (UK). His publications include “The Bonnie Bunch of Roses” (Oak), a collection of 150 traditional songs from Ireland and Britain, and “The Unstoppable Irish: Songs and Integration of the New York Irish, 1783-1883” (University of Notre Dame Press), published in May 2019. Manhattan Borough Historian Robert W. Snyder described the latter book as “essential for understanding New York City and Irish America,” while historical novelist Peter Quinn termed it “cultural history at its demotic best.” Milner’s chapter on collecting occupational songs is included in “The Ballad Collectors of North America” (Scarecrow Press), edited by Scott B. Spencer.

His five annotated compact discs center on Irish migration and maritime songs. “Irish Pirate Ballads and Other Songs of the Sea” (Smithsonian Folkways) received 2 Indie Award nominations in 2009.

Dan Milner was a founding member of the Traditional Folk Music Club at the Eagle Tavern in Greenwich Village, where he and colleagues presented more than 500 concerts.