Fifteen flute and whistle players have been shortlisted for the Seán Ó Riada Gold Medal competition which takes place this Friday (7 February) in Cork. 

The competition, which focuses on a different instrument each year, was founded by Peadar Ó Riada and is now in its tenth year. Last year, the competition featured fiddle playing and was won by Waterford fiddle player Rebecca McCarthy Kent. 

This year’s finalists include the competition’s youngest participant, fifteen-year-old Eimhear Flannery from Rockchapel in County Cork. She was also a finalist in the competition in 2016 on tin whistle and again in 2018 when she entered with the concertina. 

Michael Walsh from Sheffield was also chosen as a finalist in 2016. He is a member of the Leeds Céilí Band and a doctoral researcher in the Music Department in the University of Sheffield. He released his solo album Quarehawk last year.

The Seán Ó Riada Gold Medal Competition will be presented live at a ceremony in the Rochestown Park Hotel in Cork by Peadar Ó Riada on his programme Cuireadh Chun Ceoil on RTÉ Radió na Gaeltachta. The judges are Michael Tubridy, Mary Bergin and Gary Hastings.

The competition winner will receive the Seán Ó Riada medal and a prize of €2500. 

See the full list of finalists below. For more, visit www.rte.ie/rnag/

Cillian Boyd, Ennis, Co. Clare
Mairéad Carey, Skibbereen, Co. Cork
Séamus Harnett, Lisnagry, Co. Limerick
Eimhear Flannery, Rockchapel, Co. Cork
Joanne Quirke, Cork
Michael Walsh, Sheffield , England
Barry Conaty, Ballyhaise. Co. Cavan
David Vesey, Abbeyleix, Co. Laois
Donnchadh Mac Aodha, Blackrock, Co. Louth
Jillian O’Malley, Newmarket on Fergus, Co. Clare / Louisburgh, Co. Mayo
David Nesbitt, Bray, Co. Wicklow
Pádraig Enright, Listowel, Co. Kerry
Shauna Bolger, Castlebar, Co. Mayo
Michael Coney, Coalisland, Co. Tyrone
Stephen Kennedy, Bodyke, Co. Clare