July 19, 1999
The final round of the nine-day competition was June 26 in Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin. O'Neill was presented with the first prize of £2,500 by the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Councillor Mary Freehill. A special trophy in Dublin Crystal, commissioned by the Dublin Diocese Jubilee Committee, was also presented to him by Most Rev. Raymond Field, Auxiliary Bishop of the Dublin Diocese and chairman of the Jubilee Committee.
The second prize was awarded to Jeremy Joseph of South Africa, while the third prize was won by Jonathan Oldengarm of Canada.
O'Neill, son of Shane and Patricia O'Neill, 1909 E. Gum, Evansville, Ind., studies organ at KU with James Higdon, professor of organ and church music. He holds an undergraduate music degree from the University of Evansville and a master's degree in organ from the University of Iowa.
Participants in the Dublin competition submitted tapes for the first round of the contest. Of those entered, 16 were selected for the second round and five were selected to perform for the final. The repertoire for the final round included "Offrande et Alleluia Final" from "Livre du Saint Sacrament" by Olivier Messiaen as well as a selection of 19th and 20th century organ music of the performer's choice. O'Neill played "Prelude, adagio et choral varié sur le thème du 'Veni Creator'" by Maurice Duruflé.
Members of the jury for the competition were Michelle Leclerc of France, Ewald Kooiman of the Netherlands, Simon Preston of England, Wolfgang Zerer of Germany and chairman Gerard Gillen of Ireland.