[2][5] In addition to his solo albums, Burke has had successful project collaborations with Christy Moore, Andy Irvine & Paul Brady, Mícheál Ó Domhnaill, Jackie Daly, Ged Foley and Cal Scott.

[5] Burke joined a céilí band, the Glenside, and played weekends at various Irish dance halls around London.

[10] In 1972, Burke met American singer-songwriter Arlo Guthrie in a pub in Milltown Malbay in County Clare.

Impressed with Burke's fiddling, Guthrie invited him to Los Angeles to play on his album Last of the Brooklyn Cowboys (1973).

[11] In 1974, Burke moved to Dublin, where he teamed up with singer-songwriter Christy Moore, a former member of the Irish band Planxty.

[12] Burke replaced Tommy Peoples on fiddle, and soon became an integral member of the group, appearing on three of their albums: Old Hag You Have Killed Me (1976), Out of the Wind – Into the Sun (1977), and After Hours (Live in Paris) (1979).

[6][13] Burke developed a friendship with the band's guitarist and vocalist, Mícheál Ó Domhnaill, and soon the two began appearing together as a duo.

In 1992, Burke recorded the solo album Open House with Mark Graham (harmonica, clarinet, vocals), Paul Kotapish (guitar, mandolin, cittern, bass), and Sandy Silva (percussion).

[6] These three comprised the core of his band and together, as the group Open House, they recorded two other albums, Second Story (1994) and Hoof and Mouth (1997).

[3] Burke currently plays a fiddle made by Michiel De Hoog, a Dutch violin maker working in Dublin.