In 1978, at the age of 17, Hardiman began working as a clerk at the
Bank of Ireland, a position he held for 12 years. He occasionally performed in local bands. In 1990, he quit his job and then began composing material based on Irish traditions for radio and television. He wrote the theme music to the documentary My Riviera. His TV work included commissions for the title music for RTÉ Irish National Television Network News, and the original score for the natural history series
Waterways, He also wrote music for commercials for
Guinness and the Irish National Lottery. In motion pictures, Hardiman earned acclaim for his score to the 1996 feature
My Friend Joe, which garnered the Crystal Bear for Best Children's Film at the
Berlin Film Festival. In 1997, Hardiman released his debut solo
album,
Solas, and a year later he resurfaced with
Feet of Flames. His 2000 release,
Anthem, blended the
Celtic music sounds that he was famous for with more pop influences. The track "Ancient Lands" from
Anthem was used by the 2002 Olympic men's figure skating champion,
Alexei Yagudin, in his program "Overcome". ==Other work==