Among his early musical influences were his father, a melodeon (one-row accordion) player, and local fiddler Jim Keeffe, under whose tutelage he began playing at "crossroads dances".

Their 1977 album, Jackie Daly agus Séamus Creagh, brought Sliabh Luachra music to a wider audience and, with its tight unison playing, set the standard for future accordion and fiddle recordings.

[citation needed] In 2005, Daly was named Ceoltóir na Bliana (Musician of the Year) in the Gradam Ceoil awards of the Irish-language television station TG4.

[6] In 2009, Topic Records included in their 70-year anniversary boxed set Three Score and Ten, "The Rising Sun" / "The Pope's Toe" from Jackie Daly - Music from Sliabh Luachra Vol.

[7] Since the mid-1970s, Daly has been an influential figure in traditional music, widely credited with having rehabilitated the image of the accordion and establishing it as an acceptable instrument for inclusion in the line-up of concert groups.