Football and the fiddle weren't always a harmonious combination for Ciarán Ó Maonaigh. As a distracted seven-year-old attending his grandfather, Proinsias Ó Maonaigh's fiddle classes, a vocation in music seemed unlikely.

"I enjoyed them but I have a memory stuck in my head of always wanting to break out and play football in the yard. It wasn't cool for a young fella in Gweedore, Co Donegal, to be playing the fiddle."

It would take another seven years until the bug bit him, and then it almost devoured him. As a teenager, Ó Maonaigh saw people younger than himself playing at a more advanced level, and decided enough was enough. He threw himself into practising and under the tutelage of his grandfather, renowned fiddler Proinsias Ó Maonaigh and his aunt Mairéad, singer and fiddle player with Altan, he polished his craft.

Ó Maonaigh (21) is humble but resolute, encompassing a raw elegance of youth, which he has combined with his determination to make the leap headfirst into his music. He maintains a reluctance to divulge anything other than his music.

His debut CD, Ceol a 'Ghleanna - "Music of The Glen", was launched last month. He then embarked on what he calls his "world tour of Donegal" promoting it. His tenacious character and appetite for precision paid off when his album was recorded in just two days, a feat he shrugs off with a smirk. "It was all about the atmosphere, it was so relaxed so I wasn't nervous. Most of the tracks went down in the first take."

He shies away from labels like "ambassador for youth in traditional music". He adds: "I am a purist in traditional music. I'd listen more to the older fiddle players." And this has its advantages - the judges of the TG4 Young Musician of the Year 2003 told Ciarán that he was chosen as the winner for his "purer style".

He sticks to what he knows and admits this is because he is more assured in the distinctive Donegal style of fiddle playing. "James Byrne and John Doherty would've been big influences. I love playing in every style but I'm more confident in the Donegal style because that's what I grew up with."

He's uncomfortable with placing the word ambition with his music. Although his love for music led to him taking a year out from college, he seems cautious or perhaps simply realistic about committing to music totally in the future. He's just enjoying himself having taken time out from Marino College in Dublin. "It's been brilliant, the best decision I ever made. I have no regrets."

After the CD, awards and accolades, a future in music seems imminent.

None the less, he adds: "I'd like to get more involved in music, but it's extremely difficult to make a living from it." He saw the lifestyle Altan members had in the early years "living out of a suitcase"and it doesn't seem to appeal to him. "It was a hard slog for them for years," he says.

Next up is the annual Cairdeas na bhFidléirí, the Donegal Fiddlers Summer School in Glencolmcille, Co Donegal, this week. Ó Maonaigh is teaching classes, and will be performing with Paul Doyle and Dermot McLaughlin tomorrow night.

He's past the stage of trying to be cool. Now instead of breaking out to play football, there is a compromise - he listens to traditional music while watching a game on television.

Music is his "grágheal". Ask him what his vices are, and he answers simply, "playing tunes."