Limerick family to receive premier trad music award

The TG4 Gradam Ceoil Awards are back for their 26th year, and this time an award will go to a West Limerick trio who have “advanced, strengthened, and preserved traditional music in Ireland.”

The Music Group award this year goes to Mick, Louise, Michelle Mulcahy from Abbeyfeale, who are renowned traditional musicians in their own right, but have come together to form a family group. 

Having put out four albums together, the terrific family represent the styles and repertoires of Sliabh Luachra, Clare and East Galway.

Mick is a renowned traditional musician who plays four systems of accordion, as well as melodeon and concertina. He was a member of the Brosna Céilí Band who won the All-Ireland title in 1972, and is also a composer and recording musician who released two solo albums.

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Louise began playing the tin whistle at age 5 and later moved onto the flute, with Matt Molloy and Eamon Cotter as significant influences on her style. At age 13 she started to learn the uilleann pipes and is now a highly regarded musician in a largely male-dominated instrument. She is a performing musician, a tutor in the pipes and flute, and released a solo album in 2014. 

Michelle also learned the whistle from age 5 and went on to play the button accordion, concertina, harp, fiddle, piano and melodeon. In 2006 she was awarded the Young Musician Award at the TG4 Gradam Ceoil. She is also an academic and her PhD research topic exploring the harp traditions of Burma and Ireland is the first of its kind.

Gradam Ceoil TG4 is the premier annual traditional music awards scheme and academy. Not a competition, but rather an event with recipients selected by an independent panel of adjudicators, who are presented with a specially commissioned piece by leading sculptor John Coll as well as a small stipend. 

Other award groups include, Musician, Singer, Young Musician, Lifetime Achievement, Composer, and Outstanding Contribution.

Speaking at the announcement Proinsias Ní Ghráinne, Commissioning Editor for TG4 said, "We hope that Gradam continues to be a marker for future artistic excellence across all areas of our music and song." 

The TG4 Gradam Ceoil 2023 ceremony will be broadcast live from University Concert Hall, Limerick on TG4 on Sunday, April 23 at 9.30pm.