The Fiddler of Dooney

Sligo Live is again joining with CCE Sligo Town Branch to host the Fiddler of Dooney Competition over the October Bank Holiday weekend. The competition, inaugurated in 1965, is one of the oldest and most prestigious instrumental competitions in the tradition and is inspired by the W B Yeats poem of the same name. The roll of previous winners reads like a who’s who of traditional fiddling and includes Matt Cranitch, Cathal Hayden, Liz Kane, Paddy Glacken, Seamus and Manus McGuire.

Competitors have come from all over the country and from traditional musicians based overseas. Competitors need not be tied to any rigid formula or to play in a Sligo style, although Sligo Live celebrates the Sligo style with its infectious lift.

For more than a century there have been strong links between traditional music in Sligo and the U.S.A. To recognise and strengthen this bond The Fiddler of Dooney brings an adjudicator over from America each year. Brian Conway, Liz Carroll, Tony De Marco, Kevin Burke , Maurice Lennon, Brid Harper, & Winnifred Horan have all filled the role.

Music lovers, competitors and their families are promised a brilliant weekend of music and hospitality in Sligo.The timing is excellent as the bank holiday weekend is the beginning of the school mid- term break.

There are two competitions: for Junior and Senior entries, under 16 and over 16 respectively. This year the competitions take place in the Methodist Hall, Wine Street which has an excellent acoustic for music. Attractive prizes are on offer for both competitions. Full information and an entry form are available on CCE Sligo Town Branch’s website