1 Mike Mc Goldrick
2 Kevin Crawford
3 Dave Sheridan
They change places in the ranks every so often but never drop out. Is there anyone better out there I should be listening to ?
I don’t think the question should be whether there are better players out there. There are certainly many other great flute players that you should listen to beyond these three musicians. Given that Dave’s style is fairly different from both Kevin and Mike’s, I would imagine you could find other players you would enjoy.
B
I certainly like the three above, but really have learned a lot from listening to:
Roger Sherlock
Kevin Henry
Patsy Hanley
It varies from week to week, this week (in order of being alive) maybe…
Catherine McEvoy
Peter Horan
John McKenna
…but last week Mike Rafferty I guess
It´s surprising that there is a kind of cool fashion consisting in not to mention Matt Molloy in questions like the one in this topic.
Nevertheless I vote for him.
1-MATT MOLLOY
2-Jean Michel Veillon
3-Seamus Egan (When he was flute player)
Regards.
S.
Oops, I didn’t realise there was a right/wrong answer to the question.
Let a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought contend… 
Three is a number not big enough to name all the players who inspired and influenced me. There are so many great fluters, each of them in their own respect, and for me, reducing the lot to a top three ranking somehow disrespects the awesomeness of those not included in the list due to some subjective opinion or feeling. After all music is not about being “the best” at something…at least to my understanding.
Ah Gabriel,
Now you are in my top three list!
Arbo
Right now, here’s what I listen to most:
–Michael McGoldrick (the new CD, “Aurora”, rocks)
–John Wynne (love his “With Every Breath” CD)
–John Skelton (“Double Barreled” with Kieran O’Hare)
–Matt Molloy (“Heathery Breeze”, a great CD)
There isn’t, which is why I agree with Gabriel and don’t normally do these list things… but still feel like saying I’ll never forget Frankie Kennedy!
Well, for years I’ve listed J-M V, MM and Stephen Preston (baroque flute) as my favourite/most influential fluters, but I wouldn’t put them in an order (they’re too different!), and although they haven’t fallen in my estimation, there are quite a few others I would not consider “inferior” and to whom I may be listening more in recent times - Calum Stewart, Tom McElvogue, Bart Kuijken (baroque again). Others to whom I don’t listen as much but rate highly would include McGoldrick, Harry Bradley, FK, Conal O’Grada, Cathal McConnell. Quite a few who have been mentioned above have not made a major impact on me e.g. McEvoy, McKenna, Crawford, Skelton - but that’s not because I don’t rate what I have heard of them, rather that I just haven’t heard all that much (and maybe what I’ve heard of some of them hasn’t necessarily impelled me to go acquire more of their recordings…). I had Dave Sheridan’s most recent album for review, and while I definitely liked it, it didn’t blow my socks off! (edited to add…) There are also some famous players I’ve never really had an opportunity to hear (Sherlock, for example) and others whom I have heard a fair bit of and have not been impressed by or downright disliked (Tansey, for eaxample).
I prefer the older players. Patsy Hanley, Peter Horan, Seamus Tansey. Among many others, of course.
-
Michael Flatley
-
Mike McGoldrick
-
Kevin Crawford
Honorable mentions -
Catherine Mcevoy
1)Matt Molloy -
Packie Duigan
True that listing top three amazing flute players is somewhat unfair to those not mentioned..
First three names to pop up in my head though, are:
Matt Molloy
Tom Doorley
Conal O’Grada
The 3 players I by far have listened the most to are
Harry Bradley
Jean Michel Veillon
Michael McGoldrick
But there are so many players who inspire me. I especially want to mention Desi Wilkinson’s “Shady Woods” album, because it is such a unique album.
Gabriel said it all 
Nevertheless here are four mighty flute players that have impressed, influenced and inspired me:
Deirdre Havlin
Pat Mahan
no video clips unfortunately and the only photos I know of are the one in “Trip to Sligo”, and one I took myself in 1998 and found recently in a pile of prints
Conal O’Grada
Tara Diamond
A similar query was made on “thesession.org” late last year, or possibly at the beginning of this year. I was on my way to the west coast of Scotland on a 5-hour train journey, so printed off the replies - over 80 as I seem to recall - and collated the results.
Most popular was Matt Molloy, followed by Harry Bradley in 2nd place, with Seamus Tansey in 3rd.
My 3 would be Harry Bradley, Steph Geremia and Frankie Gavin.
Memory playing tricks on me - 3rd equal = Kevin Crawford and Conal O’Grada.
In terms of time spent listening, my three are probably Catherine McEvoy, Mike Rafferty, and Harry Bradley. But there are quite a few others I like just as much.