By Michael Devlin

The sweet tones of the ‘Rigaudon Reel’ filled the air as King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden were welcomed to Croke Park as part of their visit to Ireland this week.

The musical display of Irish culture that met the Swedish royals was provided by Uilleann piper Eamonn Óg O Donnchadha, but it's with another instrument of sorts, the hurl, and albeit with different set of Royals, that O Donnchadha showcases his skills on the weekends.

He has been a key player for Meath in their Christy Ring Cup campaign this season as Nick Fitzgerald’s men have sealed a place in the semi-finals with two wins from two so far.

From the Gaeltacht club Clann Na nGael, Irish culture in all forms have been a prominent part of O Donnchadha’s life from a young age. “From the place I come from, Ráth Cairn, there’s a huge emphasis on the language, music, song, dancing, everything that comes with it,” he tells GAA.ie. “We’re very proud of those things in our community.

“There’s a great feel of camaraderie when people come together for music or a song. There’s a trad session up in the club, and it’s the same with the football and hurling, it’s nice to see that sense of community that brings everyone together.

“The music came from an early age from my father and mother. They were both Sean Nós singers, and Dad played the flute as well, so when we were growing up he would have played it to us as children.”

O Donnchadha started on the tin whistle along with his siblings, but when the time came to pick his own instrument then, he fell for the Uilleann pipes. “One of my dad’s best friends, Brian MacNamara, he was a piper and he’d be at the house quite often and playing the pipes. I was so enthralled by them and thought they were a lovely instrument, so I asked Dad one of the days was there any chance I could start them and he asked Brian.

“Thank God, Brain said yes, and he taught me there for a few years. He was fantastic teacher, and it was really from him that I got the interest in it.”

It was when he was roughly 17 when he really started to come into his own as a musician. He recalls going on a trip to Glasgow to play in front of President Michael D Higgins. “I loved that feeling of playing in front of people. It’s kind of always been there as a hobby, and you get so much enjoyment out of it that you’re happy to play whenever.”

Wednesday’s visit of the King and Queen of Sweden then was certainly wasn’t O Donnchadha’s first time playing for distinguished guests, but it was unique in the fact he was performing by himself. A task though that the Meathman rose to. “Usually you’d have a group around you, but it was a fantastic experience, it’s not every day you get a chance to do stuff like that.

“I think they really enjoyed it. The King said when he was leaving that he’d love to hear some more, but they were on a tight schedule! For them looking at it, I suppose it looks so complicated, the various aspects, but they really enjoyed it I thought.”

Following their demotion from the Joe McDonagh Cup last season, Meath consolidated their Division Two league status before setting about making an immediate return to Championship hurling’s second tier with Christy Ring success this summer.

So far, things have gone to plan. Two wins from two against London and Kildare have guaranteed a semi-final berth, with the remaining fixture against surprise package Roscommon, who’ve also secured passage into the final four, set to determine who tops Group Two.

“We’re very happy with the performances so far,” says O Donnchadha. “They were two tough enough matches but we just got the better of them towards the end. We’re looking forward to the next game with Roscommon now, that’ll be a tough one, a decider for whoever comes out on top. It’ll be interesting.

“Kildare were our target because obviously they were champions last year. It was great to get the win, and a good start to the campaign anyway. Our objective was always to get into the semi-finals first of all. Our mentality has always been win the game that’s in front of you first and see what happens afterwards.

“Some people have said that we’re favourites, but I suppose for ourselves we only just look at the next match and try to focus on the opposition in front of us, no matter who they are.”

O Donnchadha has been in fine goal-scoring form, registering 1-4 against London before bagging 2-1 against Kildare. Those returns have been more than complemented by the awesome accuracy of Jack Regan, who has amassed a massive 0-28 across the two games.

“Yeah I’m happy enough. To be honest, we’ve a good range of forwards, and it’s not a case of lads always giving you good ball in, because no matter who gets on the scoreboard, as long as we get the win. That’s the most important thing.

“The likes of Jack there, he’s been putting up serious scores. It’s great to have a guy like that on the team. Thank God, my own form has come in the last two games and if I can push it on and get a few more scores in the next few games that’ll be great.

“Roscommon, they’ve absolutely nothing to lose, they’re playing some fantastic hurling with a fantastic result against Kildare, and they backed it up against London. I’m sure they’ll be up for the game. We’re travelling down to them, so it’ll be a really tough task on their home patch. I think our approach is the same as every game, to go out and win the battles of the field and win to cement our spot at the top of the group.”

So should the Meath hurlers continue that rich vein of form that ultimately leads to Christy Ring Cup silverware in Croke Park on June 22nd, will O Donnchadha be leading the tunes on the back of the Royals’ team bus?

“That’d be the dream now!” he laughs. “There’s one or two Meath lads that play, they were making the point to me the other day about an article that said I was playing the Uilleann pipes, and they were saying, ‘Oh I used to play the flute’, so hopefully we’ll get a few of them out and get a music session going sometime.”