[1] Throughout the 1960s, 70s and 80s McDermott was to be found playing regularly with button accordion player David Sheridan and fiddler Tommy Flynn; this trio were popular all over Connaught and further afield and appeared on many radio and television broadcasts including Ceili House and Bring Down the Lamp.
They appeared on a number of television and radio programmes, including Bring Down the Lamp, Trom agus Éadrom and Ceili House.
He also composed dance tunes, wrote a number of songs and ballads and took a particular interest in the music of O'Carolan, the great blind harpist.
In this programme, one of a series in which major figures in contemporary traditional music profile and pay homage to a master of their craft from a bygone age, flute player Paul McGrattan traced the life and legacy of McDermott and interviewed those who knew him, including Matt Molloy, Catherine McEvoy, Roger Sherlock, Michael Tubridy, Séamus O'Donnell and pupils Brenda Sweeney and Mai Harte.
McDermott composed a number of traditional tunes which have entered the repertoire of many musicians and have been recorded in Ireland and in the United States.