Ten confirmed to compete for US$5,500 at Ireland’s Ardmore Cup Feb. 24

On the heels of securing a significant sponsorship from Sullivan’s Brewing, the Ardmore Cup Invitational Solo Piping Competition in Ireland on February 24th has confirmed this year’s competitors:

• Alister Donaghy, Beragh, Northern Ireland
• Chris Earls, Arklow, Republic of Ireland
• James Frazer, Rathfriland, Northern Ireland
• Bruce Gandy, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
• Angus MacColl, Benderloch, Scotland
• Willie McCallum, Bearsden, Scotland
• Connor Sinclair, Crieff, Scotland
• James Stone, Waterford, Republic of Ireland
• Alen Tully, Dublin
• Scott Wallace, Banbridge, Northern Ireland

Up for grabs will be a total prize pool of nearly US$5,500 (€5,000).

The action starts at 10 am with the Pipe-Major Tommy Tully 12 & Under contest. The winner of that event will receive a set of R.G. Hardie Vintage Henderson pipes contributed by Michael Glennon. The runner-up gets a top-tier practice chanter donated by McCallum Bagpipes.

The Professional events begin at 1 pm with the MSR, and the Medley event will start at 5:30 pm.

Those events will be held at St. Declan’s Village Hall in Ardmore, Waterford, Ireland. Admission is €10 for adults, and kids are not charged.

At 8 pm, the day before the Saturday contests, there will be an Open Freestyle event at the Round Tower Hotel in Ardmore, with the audience (who get in for free) choosing the winner.

The judges for the Saturday events are David Caldwell, Tim Farrelly, and John Wilson.

It’s the second running of the Ardmore Cup. Connor Sinclair won the inaugural event last February. The event was inspired by the success of the Sun Belt Invitational in Florida, which is also organized by piping impresario Eric Stein.