Talbot, Culleton’s, Porter House and the Sky take top honours
THE 66th annual Guinness Singing and Swinging Pubs competition drew to a close at midnight last Thursday when adjudicator Ray Collins abided by tradition and posted the results on a television screen in the window of Macken’s pub in The Bullring.
It was the culmination of 10 nights of cracking entertainment in 26 licensed premises and an air of excitement surrounded the announcement with contestants gathering outdoors to learn the names of the winners.
The Singing section was won by the Talbot Hotel which also captured the same title last year while Culleton’s Bar, 2017 won the Swinging Section for the fourth year in a row with Paul Rossiter winning Best Male singer in that category for the seventh consecutive year.
The Porter House in Castlebridge won the Variety Section for the fourth year running while the Sky and the Ground was voted best in the Traditional Section this year.
The full results are as follows: SINGING SECTION
1st, Talbot Hotel, ;2nd, The Mocking Monck,3rd Browne’s of Bishopswater; Simon Lambert Award for Best Male: Alan Reck (Talbot Hotel Wexford) Nominee: Paul Darcy (The Mocking Monck); Nominee: Andrew Berry (Browne’s of Bishopswater) Best Female: Helena Bradley Bates (Talbot Hotel Wexford) Nominee: Becky Grey (Sinnott’s Bar) Nominee: Danielle Maher (The Mocking Monck)
SWINGING SECTION
1st: Culleton’s 2nd: Merry Elf 3rd: The Ferrycarrig Hotel; Best Male: Paul Rossiter (Culleton’s) Nominee: Hamish Stuart (Merry Elf) Nominee: David O’Farrell (The Sailing Cot) Best Female: Martina Keane (Merry Elf) Nominee: Amy Shinnors (The Ferrycarrig Hotel) Nominee: Laura Roche (Culleton’s)
VARIETY SECTION
1st : The Porter House 2nd: The Wexford Arms, 3rd: Gaynor’s Bar. Fergie Kehoe Cup for Best Male: Patrick Doyle (The Porter House) Nominee: Steve
Martin (Gaynor’s Bar) Nominee: John Moran (The Wexford Arms Pub) Best Female: Julie Dwyer (The Wexford Arms Pub) Nominee: Johanna Hearne (The Porter House) Nominee: Jessica Martin (Gaynor’s Bar)
TRADITIONAL STYLE SECTION
1st, Ger Gaynor Cup: The Sky & The Ground 2nd: The Farmer’s
Kitchen Hotel; 3rd Place: Rileys Tavern. Best Male: Willie Carley (The Sky & The Ground)
Nominee: Stuart Burns (Rileys Tavern);Nominee: Shane Dunphy (The Sky & The Ground) Best Female: Sharon Clancy (The Farmer’s Kitchen Hotel) Nominee: June Roche (The John Barry) Nominee: Grace Sheehan (Rileys Tavern)
OTHER AWARDS
The Michael Rossiter Best Group Award: Culleton’s Nominee: The Screaming Geese (The Porter House) Nominee: The Cozmics (The Sailing Cot)
The Joss Kielty Best instrumentalist award: James O’Sullivan (Merry Elf) Nominee: Alice Wickham (Kelly’s on The Corner) Nominee: Tony Ryan (The Ferrycarrig Hotel)
The Nan Cullimore Best Senior Citizen Award: Amigo Byrne (McGee’s Bar) Nominee: Tony Beale (The Wexford Arms Bar)
Nominee: Tommy Byrne (McGee’s Bar) Best Musician: Paddy Davitt (Culleton’s) Nominee: Fran Scattergood (The John Barry)
Nominee: Micheal O’Dubhghaill (The Talbot Hotel Wexford) The Shem Berry Best Traditional Act Award: Ciara & Shauna (Rileys Best Original Act: Imelda Kehoe (Merry Elf ) Nominee: Joe Keeling (Macken’s) Nominee: John Cullen (The Pike Bar)
Best Comic Act: Kenneth Hearne (The Porter House) Nominee: Martin O’Dowd (The Wexford Arms Bar) Nominee: Donal Doyle (The Farmer’s Kitchen Hotel)
The Jimmy Barron Best Unaccompanied Act: Kevin McDermott (The Sky & The Ground) Best Master of Ceremonies: John Murphy (McGee’s Bar) Nominee: Mick D’Arcy (Mary’s Bar) Nominee: Noel Quirke (The Pike Bar)
The Tony O’Neill Best decorated Pub: Merry Elf 2nd: The Farmer’s Kitchen Hotel 3rd: Culleton’s Best Bar Person: Sarah Murphy (Sinnott’s Bar).
Nominee: Jenny Werner (Talbot Hotel Wexford) Nominee: Jimmy Kelly (The Sailing Cot) Best Programme: Sinnott’s Bar Best Audience Participation Award: Culleton’s
The Con Redmond Outstanding Performance Award: Sarah Jane Reck (Talbot Hotel Wexford) Adjudicators Awards: (a) Hopper McGrath (The Sailing Cot) (b) Jessica Walker (The Pike Bar) Special Guinness Mid Strength Awards: (a) Kelly’s on The Corner (b) Billy Kelly’s (c) Bugler Doyle’s
The Guinness Golden Harp Award: Caroline Daly Jones (The Swan Bar).