This year we have six marching bands fighting for five All Ireland places, thats what makes this years Ulster Fleadh so intriging. The bands will be competing accross four sections, Pipes, Junior Flute, Junior and Senior Miscellaneous.
To keep up to date with all Ulster Fleadh 2019 News Click here
Pipe Bands
This section has only one band this year, the Longstone pipe band, they will be aiming to make it two Ulster Titles in a row after beating their neighbours in last years Ulster. This year we won’t have the same competition in this section but the quality of piping an drumming will still be as high if not better. Make sure to get down early as this competition starts at 12.30pm
2018 Winner – St Josephs Pipe Band
Junior Miscellaneous
This year there’s just one competitor, this is usually a two way race between Cloich Cheann Fhaola and Donegal Town Band but the latter has chosen to go Senior this year. That leaves Cloich Cheann Fhaola who will have their eyes on the All Ireland in three weeks which they will have a real shot of winning. This weekend all they have to do is show up and qualifiy for the All Ireland and they’ll be trying to peak their performance for the All Ireland.
2018 Winner – Donegal Town Band
Junior Flute
Maghery Junior Band have qualified but have chosen not to compete at the Ulster Fleadh this year
No previous winner in 2018
Senior Miscellaneous
In this section there’s three bands, Ramelton, Atticall and Donegal town. This competition will be fascinating as one band will likely go home, so everything is on the line. Under the old Fleadh rules the competitors in first and second place would go through and usually a highly recommended third place was allowed through as well. But under the new rules changed a few years ago the third place band isn’t allowed to go through anymore, only in extreme circumstances (eg joint second). So that means one of the three senior miscellaneous bands wont get through. That’s where things get interesting as all three of these bands can be considered Fleadh veterans, with each of them winning recent All Ireland titles, the only time they’ve really missed the All Ireland is when they’ve chosen not to enter. This shows how important this competition is to these bands, it’s the highlight of the year and what they work towards all year. Each of them has realistic chances of winning here but I think they’ll just want to get through without giving too much away for the All Ireland.
To keep up to date with all Ulster Fleadh 2019 News Click here. Tomorrow we will have an in-depth look at the Senior Miscellaneous section.
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