She studied jazz and popular music at Middlesex University in London, UK, graduating with B.
That year the couple formed a band called Cairdeas (Friends) with singer Elizabeth Barlow, and independently released an album of Irish songs and tunes, Generous Lover.
Tomkins and Hannigan continued to perform together[4][5][6][7] and separately with various Canadian groups,[8][9] and to host Irish music sessions.
[12] In 2014 she performed an original score on the violin for the Capital Theatre production of Driving Miss Daisy in Cobourg.
[16] For several years Tomkins was the principal violist in the Northumberland Orchestra in Port Hope, Ontario.
[17] In 2016 Tomkins, along with Steáfán and Oisin Hannigan and Sam Allison performed as part of David Newland's travelling concert series "Northwest Passage in Story and Song", which celebrated events in Canadian history through original ballads and storytelling.