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Pádraig McGovern — Uilleann Pipes
Pádraig McGovern comes from Ballymagovern in the Cavan-Leitrim border country and is recognised as one of the leading contemporary exponents and teachers of the uilleann pipes. He learned from master piper P. J. Flood of Belturbet, County Cavan, and was also strongly influenced by accordion player Vincent Tighe.
Music was central to Pádraig's upbringing. His family were involved with the Cornafean Céilí group and were regular musicians at sessions in the Shamrock Bar in Killeshandra. He subsequently played with the Ceolas Céilí Band under Fr John Quinn and immersed himself in the musical traditions of Leitrim. Through Quinn's teaching, Pádraig inherited repertoire drawn from the important nineteenth-century manuscripts of Stephen Grier and Alex Sutherland.
An experienced international performer and highly regarded uilleann-pipe tutor, Pádraig has released and participated in several significant recordings and projects. In 2013 he recorded Forgotten Gems with Peter Carberry. In 2015 he participated alongside pipers Leonard Barry and Maitiú Ó Casaide in Dónal Dineen's multidisciplinary project The Pipes, The Pipes.
Pádraig is also a founding member of Garadice, with Eleanor Shanley, Dave Sheridan and John McCartin. He appeared at the Jim Dowling Uilleann Pipe and Trad Festival 2026, whose current festival biography was a principal source for this profile.
Pádraig McGovern — Uilleann Pipes
Pádraig McGovern comes from Ballymagovern in the Cavan-Leitrim border country and is recognised as one of the leading contemporary exponents and teachers of the uilleann pipes. He learned from master piper P. J. Flood of Belturbet, County Cavan, and was also strongly influenced by accordion player Vincent Tighe.
Music was central to Pádraig's upbringing. His family were involved with the Cornafean Céilí group and were regular musicians at sessions in the Shamrock Bar in Killeshandra. He subsequently played with the Ceolas Céilí Band under Fr John Quinn and immersed himself in the musical traditions of Leitrim. Through Quinn's teaching, Pádraig inherited repertoire drawn from the important nineteenth-century manuscripts of Stephen Grier and Alex Sutherland.
An experienced international performer and highly regarded uilleann-pipe tutor, Pádraig has released and participated in several significant recordings and projects. In 2013 he recorded Forgotten Gems with Peter Carberry. In 2015 he participated alongside pipers Leonard Barry and Maitiú Ó Casaide in Dónal Dineen's multidisciplinary project The Pipes, The Pipes.
Pádraig is also a founding member of Garadice, with Eleanor Shanley, Dave Sheridan and John McCartin. He appeared at the Jim Dowling Uilleann Pipe and Trad Festival 2026, whose current festival biography was a principal source for this profile.
