Ardmore Cup 2026: Meet the Pipers Competing in Ireland

The 10 pipers for the fourth annual Ardmore Cup on Saturday, February 21, at St Declan’s Village Hall, Ardmore, County Waterford, Ireland, have been decided: Callum Beaumont, Guardbridge, Scotland Reece Doherty, Donegal, Ireland James Frazer, Rathfriland, Northern Ireland Finlay Johnston, Glasgow Anna Kummerlöw, Kladrum, Germany Angus D. MacColl, Benderloch, Scotland Willie McCallum, Bearsden, Scotland Connor Sinclair, Crieff, Scotland James Stone, Dublin Alen Tully, Dublin Johnston was the winner of the 2025 Ardmore Cup, and Sinclair won in 2023 and 2024. There are two events: an MSR (13:00 GMT start) and a Medley (18:00 start), which can be anything the piper chooses, provided one tune was made in Ireland. There are practice chanter contests for young learners as well as events on pipes, also for those 14 and younger. On the evening of February 16th, there’s a Medley competition for pipers 50 and older at the Round Tower Hotel, beginning at 19:30. Leonard Browne, Dr. Angus MacDonald and Ronan Maguire will judge the adult competitions. The idea for the Ardmore Cup came from the annual Sun Belt Invitational Solo Piping Competition in Florida. Neither event is sanctioned by a piping association and is organized by a team of volunteers managed by Eric Stein.