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Cathal McConnell, flute player, whistle player and singer, was born in Bellanaleck, Co Fermanagh, in 1944, and has been immersed in traditional music all his life. He is from a musical family, being a fourth-generation flute player. His father Sandy, a well known traditional singer and musician, recorded for the BBC in the 1950s. An All-Ireland champion on whistle and flute at 18, Cathal has been a virtuoso professional musician for over forty years, constantly touring the world since 1967 with the Edinburgh-based traditional group The Boys of the Lough, of which he was a founder-member with Robin Morton and Tommy Gunn. Having absorbed the music and song of his native region from musicians and singers such as Big John McManus, John Joe Maguire, Eddie Duffy and Mick Hoy, Cathal has spread a knowledge and awareness of this local repertory widely through his own performances, and has added items from it to the national repertory. Cathal has lived in Edinburgh for many years now.