Fiddle players of Irish Traditional Music who won the All Ireland Fleadh From 1999 to 2023

[@CillianByrne-u6l]

75% are just above average players that have a homogeneous "comhaltas" style. Only 3 or so that are really class, and they stand out well above the rest. The senior fiddle competition is simply not what it used to be. Its now more notable that nearly every top player has not won this competition, whereas the opposite was true up until around 1990. eg. T Peoples, L O'Connor, C McEvoy, J Smith, F Gavin, T Linnane, C McHugh, A Connolly, C Egan, C Lennon, D Hickey, L Flanagan, R Flaherty, A McGann, S Costello, J Kelly, S McGuire, D McCague, J & J Carty, J Cullinane, C Ó Maonaigh, J Doherty, D McLoughlin, Maura O Keefe, and many many more The "pure drop" in Irish trad and the type of music promoted by comhaltas has been rapidly diverging. Really says a lot that so many players of this caliber either did not win or chose not to be associated with the senior all ireland. While its sad that an organization with the influence of Comhaltas is promoting the wrong type of music, the consistent inflow of high quality fiddle players up to the present day is encouraging. These are all good musicians and not trying to put anybody down, just making a point that needs to be said even if its unpopular. The senior fiddle competition just shouldn't carry the influence that it does at this point and feel that should be recognized. Competitions of this nature should be for kids as a source of motivation and inspiration, not for adults with results that carry career altering implications.

[@stonge11]

When I was young my Mum told me not to bother with trad. She told me that it was scrapey music, played by decrepit old men in dirty pubs. So naturally I became curious about it. I learned to play mostly from James Byrne and John Doherty recordings, then went to fleadhanna and wondered why no one liked this music. I was naïve, but that was just the way it was. There is no point denying that the music has become more technically proficient now than it used to be, that is to be expected with better instruments, better tuition and a bigger talent pool. However, I do wish that Comhaltas would accept the regional styles as well. The world is going forward not back and it is great that young people like playing trad, but the thing is they expect a professional career at the end of learning. This is a problem because there is not a big enough audience to support them all as full time musicians. So I just carry on playing highlands and mazurkas as well as jigs and reels just because I like it and I can't see that changing.

[@davidgilhooly9502]

im curious as to your 3 that are class?

[@CillianByrne-u6l]

​@@davidgilhooly9502 iykyk :) Who do you think?

[@Wafaloo]

@@CillianByrne-u6lwhy don’t you just say

[@joefagan9335]

What's the "pure drop" and what's being promoted by Comhaltas? Can anyone point me to examples of either! I heard so many different styles of playing here I expect somewhere there is what you men by Comhaltas style - but who or what is 'pure drop'?

[@roisinanneh]

Love this. Thank you for putting this together! A lovely compilation to see all in one ❤️🎻

[@EricOwensFlute]

Amazing fiddlers! Thanks for sharing this history!

[@MartinBreen]

Excellent composition Willie Fogarty 👍👏👏

[@dazpatreg]

Did not think Connacht would be top of the leaderboard

[@ivanoday4635]

What a blast to see Zoe so young. She hadn't the finesse she has now, but her greatness was just as evident.

[@sarahleberre6063]

She was my first trad teacher during a workshop and I remembered my father said to me before « Look at her nice playing » and it’s true that she’s marvelous !

[@ivanoday4635]

@@sarahleberre6063 wonderful story, and a perfect quote.