All-Ireland Flute Champions

[kenny]

I came across the following list on the internet a few days ago, and thought it might be of interest.

All-Ireland Senior Flute Champions
1951, Paddy Treacy, Galway; 1952, Paddy Treacy, Galway; 1953, Vincent Broderick, Galway; 1954, Vincent Broderick, Galway; 1955, Peter Broderick, Galway; 1956, Peadar O'Loughlin, Clare; 1957, Peadar O'Loughlin, Clare; 1958, P.J. Maloney, Tipperary; 1959, Michael Falsey, Clare; 1960, Paddy Carty, Galway; 1961, Paddy Carty, Galway; 1962, Cathal McConnell, Fermanagh; 1963, Paddy Carty, Galway; 1964, Paddy Treacy, Galway; 1965, Séamus Tansey, Sligo; 1966, Matt Molloy, Roscommon; 1967, John Brady, Offaly; 1968, Mícheál Ó Halmhain, Dublin; 1969, Mícheál Ó Halmhain, Dublin; 1970, Billy Clifford, London; 1971, P.O. Ceannabhain, Galway; 1972, Patsy Hanley, Roscommon; 1973, Eugene Nolan, Laois; 1974, Josie McDermott, Sligo. 1975, Deirdre Collis, Sligo; 1976, Peig McGrath Needham, Roscommon; 1977, Pat Moloney, Limerick; 1978, Tommy Guihan, Roscommon; 1979, Marcus Hernon, Galway, and Leon Agnew, Antrim (tie); 1980, Marcus Hernon, Galway; 1981, Michael Hearty, Tipperary; 1982, Noel Sweeney, Longford; 1983, Paul Gallagher, London; 1984, Siobhán O'Donnell, London; 1985, Claire Burke, Offaly; 1986, Sharon McDermott, Tyrone; 1987, Pat Fitzpatrick, Wexford; 1988, Garry Shannon, Clare; 1989, Attracta Brady, Offaly; 1990, Thomas McElvogue, Leeds; 1991, Sharon Burke, London; 1992, Martin Glynn, Clare; 1993, Paul McGlinchey, Tyrone; 1994, Paul McGlinchey, Tyrone; 1995, Paul McGlinchey, Tyrone; 1996, Majella Bartley, Monaghan; 1997, Sandra Deegan, Carlow; 1998, June McCormack, Sligo; 1999, Tom O'Connor, Kerry; 2000, Sarah-Jane Woods, Dublin; 2001, Louise Mulcahy, Limerick; 2002, Isaac Alderson, Chicago; 2003, Aoife Ní Ghrainbhil, Kerry.


There were a few surprises:
a – The first 5 years of the Competition was dominated by 3 players, all from Galway. When Paddy Carty comes on the scene in 1960, he wins 3 out of the next 4, and then Paddy Treacy makes a comeback. This means that for the first 15 years of the competition, it was won 9 times by a player from Galway. Am I the only one to find that surprising ? Also , does anyone know about Paddy Treacy and his music ? I’m not familiar with that name at all.

b – Interesting that the ladies seem to have won 6 out of the last 8 titles.[ up to 2003 ].

c - Well done , Paul McGlinchey, the only player to win 3 in a row [ mind you – he might have been the only one to try it ! ] An impressive feat, in any case.
I would have thought that sufficient for consideration for inclusion in “WFO 3”. Kevin ?

d – And interestingly, no mention anywhere of Mr Flatley, who has always made much of the fact that he won an All-Ireland flute title. I can only assume that was in a lower age group, possibly 16-18. He certainly didn’t get any better than 3rd in the Seniors in 1977.

Anyone else care to comment ?

[bradhurley]

Maybe all the judges in the beginning were from Galway

I believe the flute that Peter Broderick played when he won in 1956 was one he made himself from a copper pipe.

[Random notes]

From http://www.michaelflatley.com/awardsandhonors.cfm

1975

* At the age of 17, Michael became the first American in history to win the World Championships for Irish Dance, thus crowning a competitive Irish dancing career in which he won 168 consecutive first place dance championships in competitions worldwide.

*Michael won a Golden Gloves boxing championship title.

*He won the first of his All-Ireland Flute Championships. More would follow on the road to becoming a celebrated flautist.

So the first one would have put him in the junior category, but I don't know where the "More would follow..." comes from.

Is this going to become a "Bash Flately" thread? They can be a lot of fun.

Roger

[Blayne Chastain]

I ran into Aoife (one of the more recent winners) in a pub in Dingle - Funny... I think she plays fiddle but she wanted an excuse to get her flute chops into shape so she decided to give a go at the championship.... and won... Yeah... that happened to me too

That was back when I wasn't playing much flute but I had a dixon polymer in my bag with me... She didn't bring a flute - just came for a drink and the craic but we got her to play and she played that dixon like it's never been played...

Cillian O'Briain was in the mix that night - what a piper!

[Blayne Chastain]

http://www.shamrockirishmusic.org/id29.html

good read on Isaac Alderson... Also google his name and you'll find some other interesting reads:

http://www.google.com/search?q=Isaac+Al ... S:official

[Cathy Wilde]

Hey, thanks for the Isaac Alderson links, Blayne! I heard him in St. Louis at Tionol a couple of years ago and really enjoyed his playing. Then I didn't know what happened to him. I suppose he'd be finishing up at Sarah Lawrence about now ... anyway, it's nice to get a little background on a nice guy and a super-nice player.

Michael Flatley. All-Ireland. ..... Are we sure he said "All-Ireland"? Maybe he really meant to write "Maul Ireland" instead?



Finally, thanks for the list, Kenny. That's cool. And speaking of copper pipe, was it James Mahon who made his first flute out of an old bicycle pump? Thanks to Brad, I should know for sure, but .... it's been a hard week on the old memory banks.

[Wormdiet]

I'm gonna name my firstborn "Attracta"

[RudallRose]

isaac and I got to play together in NYC last year at his session at O'Neills on Third Avenue (?). Anyway, great kid. Great chops. Better piper, but who cares. Not only did he win on Flute that year, but ALSO the pipes and whistle senior. Only man to win all three in the SAME competition, and the senior level.

I've been told that anyone who finishes in the top 3 at the Fleadh can call themselves an All-Ireland Champion (not necessarily a "winner"....so that's why some say a 9-time Champion, when they may have one just once or twice).

for what it's worth

And Flatley won as a junior in the 70s.

[meemtp]

Hmm,

I'll have to tell my friend about the 3rd place and up thing David. He placed 2nd (out of 2) in the pipes (slow airs only) in the 2002 fleadh, behind ta da! Issac A.

[kkrell]

Not only do they usually refer to the top 3 in each category, but some of the wins might be for duets, trios, bands, etc., as well as the different age groups. You'll find quite a number of All-Ireland "champs" on the "Wooden Flute Obsession" CDs. However, the ability to win a competition according to the adjudication rules is not necessarily the best indicator of a musician's ability or talent. Although I've heard that WFO is being encouraged to train adjudicators, I'm not sure in what capacity (possibly "Take points off for this").

Kevin Krell

[psmithltd]

No offense to Kevin, but how could anyone justify hiring an adjudicator that *needed* WFO to have an idea of what flute playing sounded like?[/i]

[psmithltd]

Also, for those looking for dirt on Isaac Alderson, you might be interested in a recent posting on IrTrad from March by the lad.

https://listserv.heanet.ie/cgi-bin/wa?A ... S=&P=38331

A comment on the old innovation vs. tradition argument... Harry Bradley has some good comments on the post afterwards.... An interesting read.

[OnTheMoor]

Pat Fitzpatrick, Wexford

I've often asked myself, "I wonder if anyone has ever been names Patrick Fitzpatrick???" I've met a few Donald MacDonalds, but never one of these.

[glinjack]

From http://www.michaelflatley.com/awardsandhonors.cfm

1975Hi
Michael Flatley i believe got 2nd place in the 1977 All Ireland flute competion, iit was won that year by Pat Moloney from Croagh Co Limerick
who lives in Birmingham and plays flute with an Irish band there.

* At the age of 17, Michael became the first American in history to win the World Championships for Irish Dance, thus crowning a competitive Irish dancing career in which he won 168 consecutive first place dance championships in competitions worldwide.

*Michael won a Golden Gloves boxing championship title.

*He won the first of his All-Ireland Flute Championships. More would follow on the road to becoming a celebrated flautist.

So the first one would have put him in the junior category, but I don't know where the "More would follow..." comes from.

Is this going to become a "Bash Flately" thread? They can be a lot of fun.

Roger

[Eldarion]

All-Ireland Senior Flute Champions
1951, Paddy Treacy, Galway; 1952, Paddy Treacy, Galway; 1953, Vincent Broderick, Galway; 1954, Vincent Broderick, Galway; 1955, Peter Broderick, Galway; 1956, Peadar O'Loughlin, Clare; 1957, Peadar O'Loughlin, Clare; 1958, P.J. Maloney, Tipperary; 1959, Michael Falsey, Clare; 1960, Paddy Carty, Galway; 1961, Paddy Carty, Galway; 1962, Cathal McConnell, Fermanagh; 1963, Paddy Carty, Galway; 1964, Paddy Treacy, Galway; 1965, Séamus Tansey, Sligo; 1966, Matt Molloy, Roscommon; 1967, John Brady, Offaly; 1968, Mícheál Ó Halmhain, Dublin; 1969, Mícheál Ó Halmhain, Dublin; 1970, Billy Clifford, London; 1971, P.O. Ceannabhain, Galway; 1972, Patsy Hanley, Roscommon;

I'm finding this quite interesting, most of the flute players earlier on in the list comprised of relatively flowy styled flute players. All the Galway fluters, younger Peadar O'Loughlin, Cathal McConnell. Despite Sligo having a strong fluting tradition, no Sligo flute player got the title until 1965 by Seamus Tansey according to the data above. Even so, Tansey and young Matt Molloy were relatively smooth sounding players. I don't recognise any huffy Sligo players on that list until 1972, Patsy Hanley. Does this reenforce the idea that huffy Sligo flute playing was not popular with the judges for a long while?