K & S Retain All-Ireland Junior Accordion Title In Belfast

K & S Marching Band have retained the All-Ireland Junior Accordion title at Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in Belfast, adding another success to a remarkable record stretching across almost four decades.

The Meath band performed at Titanic Slipways on Sunday and secured back-to-back Junior Accordion titles following their victory at the 2025 Fleadh in Wexford.

While K & S were the sole entrant in the Junior Accordion section this year, the young band produced an excellent performance worthy of the All-Ireland stage and continued the high standards associated with K & S over many generations.

Their performance was the product of another year of practice and development, with the young musicians displaying the musical ability, discipline and confidence required to bring a full competition programme to the Fleadh.

For a junior band in particular, simply maintaining the numbers and commitment required to prepare throughout the year should not be underestimated. The performance in Belfast demonstrated that the next generation of K & S musicians are continuing a tradition established long before many of the current members were born.

Their latest success is their 11th Junior Accordion All-Ireland title, having previously won in 1987, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2025.

That record becomes even more impressive when the band’s achievements at senior level are included.

K & S have also twice lifted the Senior Accordion All-Ireland title, first in 2002 and again more than two decades later in 2023, while they finished runners-up to St Catherine’s Killybegs in the senior competition in 2024.

Sunday’s success therefore brings K & S to 13 All-Ireland marching band titles across the Junior and Senior Accordion sections.

Few bands can point to that level of longevity. Almost 40 years now separate the band’s first Junior Accordion victory in 1987 and its latest success in Belfast, with numerous generations of musicians having represented K & S at the Fleadh during that time.

Perhaps most encouraging is that the tradition is continuing. At a time when the number of accordion marching bands entering competitions has fallen considerably, K & S continue to bring through young musicians and put a junior band onto the All-Ireland stage.

That takes sustained work not only from the musicians themselves, but from tutors, committee members, parents and families who keep the band going from one generation to the next.

The 2026 title is another reward for that commitment, while the standard of Sunday’s performance suggests the latest generation of K & S musicians are more than capable of carrying that long All-Ireland tradition forward.