A Glasgow teenager is relishing in her achievements after winning silver at The Royal National Mod.
Maria Monk fought off stiff competition from six fellow singers to take first place in the second of the girl’s fluent solo singing competitions for 13-15 year-olds.
Her captivating performance secured her the Traditional Silver Pendant as well as the Ann Kelly MacDonald Memorial Trophy for achieving top marks in Gaelic.
Beaming from ear to ear, Maria, who attends Glasgow Gaelic School, said she was thrilled to be taking home the accolade.
“I’m very pleased to have won actually, I didn’t expect it,” she said.
“I have sang a lot of times, trying to get the right pitch. It’s been quite hard but it’s a really nice song.
“It’s a sad song, it’s about a man who’s lost his wife and the children are left on their own without a mother. It’s very sad but it’s a very nice song.
“My mum actually heard the song on the radio. It sounded nice. We usually just pick songs from the radio and try and see if it would fit with my voice well and this was one of them.”
‘She loves singing’
Maria has been actively competing at the Mod throughout her adolescent life, putting her ability to speak fluent Gaelic at the forefront.
Her mum Mairaed, originally from South Uist, spoke highly of her daughter’s abilities.
She added: “She enjoys her singing, she loves singing.
“She’s in a Gaelic household so she has been brought up around Gaelic. I am from South Uist and her dad’s from Benbecula so she’s had Gaelic around her.
“She’s won many prizes in the past. She’s an excellent singer, story teller and she’s done many Mods.”
Passing it on through the generations
Maria says she hopes her children will endorse the Gaelic language to help keep the culture and heritage alive.
She added: “It’s very nice as Gaelic runs through my family. My grandparents speak it as well so it’s a tradition.
“I would like to have my children speak Gaelic as well and keep the tradition alive so it doesn’t die.”
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