[2] Carroll's parents were born in Ireland; her father Kevin was from Brocca, County Offaly, and her mother Eileen[3] was from Ballyhahill, West Limerick.

[5][8] That same year Carroll and Chicago piano accordionist Jimmy Keane won the senior duet championship.

The following year, Carroll recorded her first solo album A Friend Indeed, accompanied on piano by Marty Fahey, featuring five of her compositions.

[7] In 1987 she was asked to join the debut tour of the all-female Irish American ensemble Cherish the Ladies, but declined for family reasons.

In 1992, Carroll, Sproule, and Irish-American button accordionist Billy McComiskey formed Trian and recorded two albums.

[10] Lost in the Loop (2000), Carroll's first solo album in over a decade, featured thirteen original compositions and was produced by Séamus Egan of Solas.

She sounds almost possessed, yet not once does she lose sight of those traditional reels' melodies in one of the more exhilarating Irish fiddle tracks ever recorded.

[7] In 2001 Carroll collaborated with Irish-American author Frank McCourt on staged readings from his works, a production developed by the Steppenwolf Theater Company in Chicago.

In 2011, she was the recipient of the Gradam Ceoil TG4 Cumadóir award, Ireland's most significant traditional music prize for composition.