Three Cork competitors for Seán Ó Riada Gold Medal final
THREE young Cork women will be amongst the fifteen finalists competing for the Seán Ó Riada Gold Medal in the Rochestown Park Hotel in Cork on Friday 7 February, and the event will be broadcast live on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta.
Eimhear Flannery, 15, from Rockchapel in the Sliabh Luachra area of Cork will be the youngest competitor this year, and this will be her third time to compete in the final. She was a finalist in 2016 when she was just 11, competing on whistle that time, and on concertina then in 2018.
She was just 2 years old when she took up the whistle, and has won many prizes for her playing over the years.
Mairéad Carey hails from the parish of Aughadown in West Cork. She has had a strong interest in Irish traditional music from a young age and plays the fiddle, tin whistle and piano, as well as the flute. Mairéad has many awards and scholarships to her name, and at the moment she is working as an Executive Officer in the civil service in Cork City, and playing music with the National Folk Orchestra. Mairéad previously qualified for the final in 2012 and 2016.
Joanne Quirke is a multi-instrumentalist from Cork city who began playing whistle at the age of 14 and quickly progressed to the flute at the age of 15. She also plays fiddle and piano. She has won many honours at Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in the past including three senior All-Ireland titles. Joanne was involved in the creation of a series of tutorials for Irish Music Apps in which she acted as tin whistle teacher and she has toured extensively throughout Europe and
Full list of competitors:
Cillian Boyd, Ennis, Co. Clare Mairéad Carey, Skibbereen, Co. Cork
Séamus Harnett, Lisnagry, Co. Limerick
Eimhear Flannery, Rockchapel, Co. Cork
Joanne Quirke, Cork Michael Walsh, Sheffield , England
Barry Conaty, Ballyhaise. Co. Cavan
David Vesey, Abbeyleix, Co. Laoire
Donnchadh Mac Aodha, Blackrock, Co. Louth
Jillian O’Malley, Newmarket on Fergus, Co. Clare / Louisburgh, Co. Mayo
David Nesbitt, Bray, Co. Wicklow
Pádraig Enright, Listowel, Co. Kerry
Shauna Bolger, Castlebar, Co. Mayo
Michael Coney, Coalisland, Co. Tyrone
Stephen Kennedy, Bodyke, Co. Clare
Japan. She was a finalist in the competition in 2016.
Peadar Ó Riada will present the event live from the Rochestown Park Hotel from 7 pm – 10 pm. Esteemed
musicians Michael Tubridy, Mary Bergin and Gary Hastings will have the difficult job of choosing the winner, and the criteria will include not only technical proficiency, but playing that demonstrates musicality and soul as well. The winner will take home the prestigious Seán Ó Riada Gold Medal, as well as €2500.
As part of the weekend events, there will be a musicians’ conference on Saturday morning in the hotel, and the Coirm Órdha concert with past winners including box player Keelan McGrath and harper Úna Ní Fhlannagáin will take place on Saturday night.