Úna Ní Fhlannagáin and Éanna Ó Cróinín Win Seán Ó Riada Competition

Úna Ní Fhlannagáin (harp) and Éanna Ó Cróinín (uilleann pipes), winners of the 2017 Seán Ó Riada Bonn Óir/Gold Medal competition.

Úna Ní Fhlannagáin and Éanna Ó Cróinín Win Seán Ó Riada Competition

Winners will receive inscribed medals made of solid silver and share a cash prize of €2,500.

Harper Úna Ní Fhlannagáin from Galway and uilleann piper Éanna Ó Cróinín from Ráth Cairn have won the final of the Seán Ó Riada Gold Medal competition, which took place on Friday 3 February.

The competition was broadcast live from Rochestown Park Hotel in Cork on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta.

Ní Fhlannagáin and Ó Cróinín were among 14 musicians who were shortlisted to perform in the final, following a call for applications in the form of a recording last year. 

From Craughwell, Co. Galway, Úna Ní Fhlannagáin now lives in Bearna. She is one of the founders of the Athenry School of Music, and, as well as traditional music, she plays jazz, pop, and original compositions. She has previously collaborated with Grammy Award winner Bobby McFerrin and BBC World Music nominee Tamara Obrovac. 

Éanna Ó Cróinín learned the pipes at Na Píobairí Uilleann in Dublin. He has twice won the senior all-Ireland uilleann pipes competition at Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann, and also won the Oireachtas prize for uilleann piping in 2005 and 2007. He received an MA in Irish Music Performance from the University of Limerick in 2010 and currently teaches maths and music at Pobascoil Ráth Cairn.

The Seán Ó Riada Gold Medal competition is organised and presented by Peadar Ó Riada and honours the memory of his late father. 

This was the seventh year of the competition, which usually focuses on a different instrument for each edition – this year it focused on both harp and pipes. Previous winners include fiddle-players Aoife Ní Bhriain and Darragh Curtin, harper Oisín Morrison, uilleann piper Tiarnán Ó Duinnchinn, concertina player Cormac Begley, and flute-player Seán Gavin. The judges this year were Jimmy O’Brien Moran, Allan MacDonald and Laoise Kelly.

Listen back to the winning performances below. 

To listen back to the entire concert, visit https://goo.gl/3RGE14

Published on 6 February 2017

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