Mairead is national fiddle champion for third time

SHE’S only 12 but already this young virtuoso has won her third national fiddle title.

Mairead Hickey from The Lough in Cork city competed against the best fiddle players in the world at the World Fleadh in Tullamore.

And despite her tender years, Mairead was crowned All Ireland Fiddle Champion — for a remarkable third time — in her under 12 age section in both the slow airs and fast tunes sections.

Mairead, who has started secondary school in Mount Mercy, began playing the violin aged two.

Through the Suzuki method, she learned to love the instrument before enrolling in classes at the Cork School of Music, where she honed her skills under the guidance of Adrian Pectu.

Mairead swept to her first All Ireland title in 2005, and won it again in 2006.

She missed last year’s competition because she was performing classical music in Romania. But she was back this year and restored her dominance of her age group.

Dad Michael paid tribute to Mairead’s teacher, fiddle playing legend Connie O’Connell from Kilnamartyr.

“He teaches not just great technique but also the background and history of the tunes,” he said.

And he also attributed his daughter’s success to the teachers at the Cork School of Music. Mairead also plays piano, concertina, and tin whistle and her younger brother Seamus plays the fiddle.

Michael and his wife Clare believe their family’s love of music may have come from Michael’s mother who left Arklow for London during World War II. She played the fiddle and brought him with her as she played with various ceilí bands around London. The Hickey family moved back to Cork several years ago.