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Róisín O’Connor and Éamonn O’Meachair, winners of the Patrick O’Keeffe Traditional Music Festival Young Musician Award.
THE Patrick O’Keeffe Traditional Music Festival has announced the winners of this year’s ‘Young Musician Award.’
This year, like last year there is a male and female winner. They are, Roisín O’Connor (fiddle) from Malahide, Co Dublin and Éamonn O’Meachair (uileann pipes) from Cúl Aodha, Co Cork.
Both Róisín and Éamonn will perform in the Sliabh Luachra Concert on Saturday the October 28 at this year’s festival. The winners were invited to choose a musical hero of theirs to tutor them in advance of the concert, and perform with them in concert.
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Róisín has chosen Aidan Connolly, by popular consensus one of the leading fiddle players of his generation. Aidan is from Dublin but has very strong Sliabh Luachra connections.
He was a recent nominee for ‘Instrumentalist of the Year’ at last years RTE Folk Award, eventually losing out to Cormac Begley.
Eamonn O’Meachair has chosen Peter Browne as his tutor. Peter presented The Rolling Wave on RTE Radio 1 for many years. He is a founding member of the Patrick O’Keeffe Traditioanl Music Festival and a past recipient of the hugely prestigious ‘Dedication to the Music of Sliabh Luachra Award.
Róisín’s earliest musical influences were her parents, Sliabh Luachra musicians Paudie O Connor and Aoife Ni Chaoimh. She received fiddle tuition from Liam O’Connor and John McEvoy.
She has developed her interest and knowledge of Sliabh Luachra music from her involvement with the Handed Down and World Fiddle Day events in Sacartaglen.
In 2022, along with her mother Aoife, she led the fiddle recital at World Fiddle day having chosen the tunes to be played from the Handed Down Sliabh Luachra archive. Through her research in the archive she has developed a particular love for the music of Julia Clifford and Paddy Cronin. Over the past number of years Róisín has done numerous recordings for both RTE and TG4.
Éamonn Ó Meachair, 19 years of age, is a piper from Doire’n Chuilinn, Cúíl Aodha. He is the youngest in a family of five, all of whom are musicians. Music was always a huge part of the family home.
He began playing the Uilleann Pipes at age 7 through Na Píobairí Uilleann “Pipes on Loan” scheme. His first tutor was Rob Fell in the Killarney School of Music.
At Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy he has had tutors such as Seán Óg Potts, Seán Mckeon and Pádraic Keane.
His earliest influences are Patsy Touhey and Willie Clancy and most recently Joe Shannon. His other influences are Paddy Cronin, Caoimhín Ó Fearghail and Seán Keane among others.
He is currently studying Radiography in UCD where he was awarded an Entrance Scholarship from UCD and also a Scholarship from Teach na Gaeilge. He also teaches at Na Píobairí Uilleann Headquarters on Henrietta Street.
First inserted into the festivals programme of events in 2021, The Young Musician Award seeks to motivate and inspire young people to take an interest in Sliabh Luachra Music.
The competition has gone from strength to strength, with over 80 entries this year, and with the judges stating that the overall standard of talent this year was the highest witnessed in the competition to date. The festival received entries from far flung places such as Spain, the USA, and throughout Ireland as well as many local entries also.
