It was an emotional Black Isle Gaelic Choir who won the Margrat Duncan Memorial Trophy at the Mòd for the second year running.
Ahead of Friday afternoon’s competitions, a minute’s silence was held in memory of their late conductor and beloved Mòd community member, Kirsteen Maclennan - better known in Galedom as Kirsteen Maclennan.
After the competition closed, a men’s massed choir moved the audience at Paisley Town Hall when they performed Kirsteen’s arrangement of An Eala Bhàn (The White Swan).
Some of the choir members are from the Western Isles.
Kerrie Kennedy of Aberdeen Gaelic Choir, who stepped in as conductor of Black Isle Gaelic Choir, said: “It was one of Kirsteen’s last wishes for us to perform today and she asked me to step in if she couldn’t do it, so I did. It doesn’t seem real and to receive the baton, well that’s for her.
“The sound the choir made today was just incredible, I’ve never experienced anything like that before. I just couldn’t have asked any more of them today. They gave it everything, absolutely everything.
“Kirsteen arranged our own choice song, it was her last gift to the choir so it was lovely to bring that in and the choir did it justice. I think Kirsteen would have been very, very happy with what we did today. She was here, and so was her Dad.”
The regional choirs events are the last in a busy programme of competitions throughout Mod week.
This year’s Royal National Mod will be brought to a close with a farewell gathering of choirs outside Paisley Town Hall.
Emotional win for choir who sang their hearts out in tribute to beloved conductor
21 October 2023