Seán Ó Riada Gold Medal Competition
The Seán Ó Riada Gold Medal will be broadcast live from Baile Bhúirne, Co. Cork, on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta on Friday 7 May at 7 pm.
This year, the competition is for harp and pipes, and there will be fifteen finalists in total, eight on harp and seven on pipes.
Peadar Ó Riada will present the final on his programme Cuireadh chun Ceoil, and esteemed musicians and judges Mick O’Brien, Laoise Kelly and Louise Mulcahy will have the unenviable task of picking a winner on each instrument, each of whom will receive a Seán Ó Riada Gold Medal and €2500.
There will be no audience this year due to public health restrictions, but people can watch the final live on RTE Raidió na Gaeltachta’s Facebook page and at cuireadhchunceoil.ie, where they can show their support for the musicians.
The final will be managed in full compliance with the current public health guidelines.
The final for the Seán Ó Riada Gold Medal competition will be broadcast live on the Cuireadh chun Ceoil programme on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta on Friday 7 May from 7 pm to 9.30 pm.
This year’s sponsors are RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta, Iontaobhas Fódhla, Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, Gael Linn, IMRO, Údarás na Gaeltachta and Cork County Council.
Full list of competitors:
Harp
Éilís Needham (Hazelwood, Co. Sligo)
Donnchadh Mac Aodha (Dundalk, Co. Louth)
Alisha McMahon (O’Callaghan’s Mills,Co. Clare)
Emer Ní Scolaí (Drumcondra, Dublin)
Emma Benson (Keadue, Co. Roscommon)
Fionnuala Donlon (Dundalk, Co. Louth)
Gráinne Fitzgibbon (Banogue, Co. Limerick)
Hannah Lyons (Balla, Co. Mayo)
Pipes:
Colm Broderick (Carlow)
Eoin Orr (Letterkenny, Co. Donegal)
Fiachra O’Regan (Roundstone, Co. Galway/Québec, Canada)
Jane Walls (Moneyglass, Co. Antrim)
Mícheál Fitgibbon (Banogue, Co. Limerick)
Muireann Ní Shé (Ballinhassig, Co. Cork)
Peadar Giles (Clarinbridge, Co. Galway)