Liz Carroll was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Irish immigrant parents from Limerick and Offaly Counties. She first picked up the fiddle as a young child. Inspired by her family and community, Liz honed her skills at the local Traditional Musicians Association.

Since she was 18, when she astounded the Celtic music world by winning the Senior All-Ireland Championship, Liz Carroll and her fiddle have been amazing audiences around the globe. Her recordings and appearances on concert stages, television, and radio have established Liz as one of traditional music's most sought after performers.

Liz's recordings are in the majority her own compositions, and they have given her a stature equal to that of her playing. Her compositions over the past three decades have entered into the repertoire of Irish and Celtic performers throughout the world.

In 1994 the National Endowment for the Arts awarded Liz a National Heritage Fellowship for her great influence on Irish music in America, as a performer and a composer. First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton presented the award which bestows national recognition on artists of international stature. Liz was honored by Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley in 1999 when he proclaimed September 19 as "Liz Carroll Day" at the Chicago Celtic Festival. Liz was also named one of the top 100 Irish-Americans in the 2003 issue of Irish American Magazine.