Yesterday saw thousands descend upon Dungloe in the sunshine to watch or participate in the Annual Easter Parade and Competition. Rivalled only by the Mary Parade or a Daniel O’Donnell concert this was one of the largest crowds seen in the town for many years.
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The parade has gone from strength to strength in recent years with bands on Sunday coming from Donegal to Cloughaneely, Killanto, Crickmore, Rannafeirste, Mullaghduff and of course Maghery, it was simply a feast of colour and great music.
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There was a great turnout of bands with 16 in total, 11 of these went on to take part in one of Irelands largest competitions. The parade started at 2.30pm and this was followed sharply by the annual Easter competition. With nine trophies on offer there was nearly enough for each band…… or so you would have thought.
There were six sections the bands competed in; Miscellaneous non competing, Fife and Drum non competing, Junior Fife and Drum, Senior Fife and Drum, Junior Accordion, Fife and Drum (Music and Drill).
Each competition was filled with wonderful music both modern and traditional Irish tunes as well as drill routines performed to an extremely high standard. One competition stood out for its high competitiveness between Maghery and Mullaghduff, both bands played a wide range of music to the highest’s of standards but ultimately Maghery’s exceptional drill routine won over the judges but it couldn’t have been much closer.
The Cloughaneely band also impressed in their section and even though they were the only competitors in the section it would have took a lot to beat them as they were on of the highlights of the competition. The Keadue band won the Junior Fife and Drum and for the age of their members they were outstanding.
Maghery Academy brought their three bands to compete across three sections and they returned home with 5 of the 11 cups. Each of their three bands won silverware, the senior band won the Fife and Drum section, their Junior band won the Best Endeavour award, and their Fleadh Band led by Courtney Boyle won the best band on parade, best drum major and the Johnny Walsh Cup.
To view our video highlights click here
Each of the bands had an enjoyable day in the sunshine and the event was a huge success for yet another year. The full list of trophies and winners is below;
- Ita McElhinney Cup- Dungloe Band (Misc non-Competing)
- Paddy Murray cup- Meenacross Band, ( Fife and Drum non- competing)
- Terence Bonner cup- Keadue Band , (Junior Fife and Drum)
- John Boyle Tully cup- Maghery Senior Band (Senior Fife and Drum music only)
- Maureen Sweeney O’Neill cup- Cloughaneely junior Band (Jnr accordion)
- Jonny Walsh cup – Maghery Fleadh Band (Fife and Drum Fleadh Bands)
- Best Endeavour – Molly Quinn cup- Maghery Junior Band
- Best band on parade-Rita Boyle Trophy- Maghery Fleadh Band
- Best Drum Major – Michael Gillespie Shield – Courtney Boyle Maghery Fleadh Band
To view our video highlights click here
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