ITMA looks forward to welcoming Gobnait Kiely, recipient of the first Consairtín Student Research Bursary, to 73 Merrion Square to facilitate her research on Ella Mae O’Dwyer.
UCC student Gobnait Kiely is the first recipient of the Consairtín Student Research Bursary in association with the Irish Traditional Music Archive. Gobnait will research the music of concertina player Ella Mae O’Dwyer from west Cork and will present the results of her research in an illustrated lecture at the 2023 Consairtín festival on Saturday 15 April in the Holy Family School, Ennis, Co Clare.
Gobnait is a concertina player from Béal na Bláth, Co. Cork. She is currently a third year student in University College Cork, studying music and Irish. Though primarily a concertina player, Gobnait also sings, plays the piano and the tin whistle. She began learning the tin whistle at the age of six in her local branch of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann and took up the concertina and piano soon after. Gobnait was awarded the UCC Dónal ‘Doc’ Gleeson award for solo performance in 2021. Over the years, she has participated in a variety of performance ensembles such as céilí bands and grupaí cheoil. She is currently a concertina tutor in the Lee Valley School of Music, Macroom. Her proposal was selected for the bursary following a competitive process that began in October 2022.
For more information visit the Consairtin website.
