Fiddle player Paddy Glackin has been announced as the recipient of the TG4 Gradam Ceoil musician award for 2022.

The awards, now in their 25th year, recognise those who have advanced, strengthened and preserved traditional music in Ireland.

Glackin is renowned as one of Ireland’s finest fiddle players who has released influential solo albums such as Glackin: Ceol ar an bhFidil and In Full Spate as well as seminal duet recordings with musicians such as Paddy Keenan, Jolyon Jackson, Robbie Hannan and Mícheál Ó Domhnaill. He has also worked as a broadcaster and producer in RTÉ and presented The Pure Drop, which was produced by Tony MacMahon.

Fiddle player Connie O’Connell is the recipient of the Cumadóir/Composer award. From Kilnamartra in Cork, his well-known tunes include ‘The Torn Jacket’. In 2014, a collection of 69 of his compositions was released as two CDs (recorded by O’Connell and his daughter Áine), along with a book of the tunes. 

Sarah Ghriallais from Conamara is the recipient of this year’s Amhránaí/Singer award. A hugely admired sean-nós singer with a distinct voice, she won Corn Uí Riada at the Oireachtas in 1984. She recently released the album Idir Dhá Sháile 2 on the Gael Linn label.

The equally admired singer Dolores Keane will receive the Gradam Saoil/Lifetime Achievement award. Known for her work with Dé Dannan, as a soloist, in a duet with John Faulkner, and as one of the vocalists on the A Woman’s Heart album, Keane is a household name in Ireland and has also collaborated with Emmylou Harris, The Chieftains and Paul Brady.

Diarmuid Ó Meachair receives the Ceoltóir Óg/Young Musician award. From Cúil Aodha in Cork, he plays accordion and melodeon and is also a singer. In 2016, he won the Senior All-Ireland melodeon title at the Fleadh Cheoil in Ennis. As a singer, he has won several competitions at the Oireachtas.

The dancer Edwina Guckian from Drumsna in County Leitrim receives the Gradam Comaoine/Outstanding Contribution award. Guckian is also a dance teacher, choreographer, artistic director and cultural activist and, through her many projects such as the Airc Damhsa Culture Club, The Leitrim Dance Project and The Modern-Day Mummers, and her most recent projects Sowing the Seed and Jenny Put the Kettle On, she has engaged thousands of children and adults in dance.

Finally, Skara Brae will receive the Grúpa Ceoil/Music Group award. Comprising siblings Tríona, Maighread and Mícheal Ó Domhnaill (1951–2006) and Daithí Sproule, the group released an influential album in 1972 which this year celebrates 50 years.

The TG4 Gradam Ceoil 2022 Awards ceremony will take place in Dublin on Easter Sunday, 17 April, at 9.30pm in the National Concert Hall and will also air live on TG4. Tickets are available at www.nch.ie.

For more, visit www.tg4.ie.