Sean Ryan was born in Clonakilty and raised in Youghal, County Cork, Ireland. As a young boy he went to the Christian Brothers School and played tin whistle in the marching band.

His family immigrated to the United States in 1960 when he was twelve years old, first settling in San Francisco and then moving to the Chicago suburb of Mount Prospect in 1962.   

During high school, Sean played bass guitar for the popular Chicago garage band "The Shandells," but when rock and roll took a sharp left turn in the late 60's, Sean went back to his roots ... folk music.

While in college, Sean honed his love of acoustic folk music by playing in campus and local coffee houses throughout the state of Illinois. He met and performed with John Denver, Jim Croce, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Rick Nelson.

Upon graduation from Illinois State University in 1972 with a degree in English, he taught English at William Rainey Harper College in Palatine, Illinois. While moonlighting around the Chicago folk clubs, performing at the Earl Of Old Town, the Old Town School Of Folk Music, Butch McGuire's and the suburban folk circuit, he met his good friend and mentor, the late Gamble Rogers.

After one of Gamble's road trips to Harbor Springs, Michigan, where he was a popular draw at Duffy's Country Inn for many years, Gamble urged Sean to visit and meet the people of Northern Michigan. After a brief two-week engagement at Duffy's, Sean returned to Chicago, resigned from teaching and, in the fall of 1974, moved to Michigan. He settled in Petoskey, where he bought a twenty-acre farm near Walloon Lake.

Sean still lives there with his two children, Patrick and Kathleen.

From 1974 through 1980, Sean entertained at Duffy's Country Inn for his good friends Lois and Ted Griffin. When the Griffins sold the business in 1980, Sean bought and operated his own pub, Ryan's Public House, outside Boyne City, Michigan, until becoming a partner in Duffy's of Charlevoix in 1982.

When that business was sold, Sean teamed with Stafford's Hospitality and with the help of Dudley Marvin, Shawn Gray and Bob Miller, built what became the premier folk music entertainment club in Northern Michigan... the Noggin Room at the Perry Hotel in Petoskey.

Today, Sean is employed by the CharEm Intermediate School District and works full-time at the Orion School in Boyne Falls, MI. He also coaches track and field in the Petoskey Public Schools while still performing at popular hotels and nightclubs throughout Michigan.