 He entered an anthem, "O God of My Salvation" for contralto and chorus, for the 1897 Dublin Feis Ceoil and won; on this occasion he heard folk song arrangements of Charles Villiers Stanford and others for the first time.At the 1901 Feis Ceoil, he again won a prize, this time for a large cantata, "The Red Hand of Ulster".In 1914 Mary Reavy, Hardeback's wife died.