Clióna McDonald

Clióna Dowling McDonald is one of the music teachers in Spink CCE and a past pupil of Spink Comhaltas. Teaching for 5 years she has had a number of pupils who have competed successfully at Na Fleadhanna Cheoil.

She is a multi-instrumentalist, playing flute, harp, tin whistle, piano and banjo and has been playing music and singing English and Irish Sean Nós since the age of 4. She is now in college at TU Dublin studying commercial modern music and business. Clióna has competed in many Fleadhanna Cheoil and Scór competitions, winning multiple Fleadh titles. She has also competed in many song writing competitions, winning the Compórtais Beo le Forás na Geailge in 2019, placing 3rd in the Junior Eurovision in 2016 and reaching the final of of the Pan Céilteach festival in 2016 and 2019. All of these competitions required her to compose both music and lyrics for an original song in Irish. She is also a fluent Irish speaker. Clióna completed the Comhaltas TTCT teacher training course in 2022.

As well as her traditional Irish music experience, Clióna has professionally recorded a number of her original songs in Irish and English with Fairway studios Co. Kildare. Clióna recently performed one of her original songs in Vicar Street and was the female lead singer in Coláiste Lorgan’s music video for Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s song “Shallow” as Gaeilge in 2019.