‘Start the year with Pipers’  

Happy New Year to everyone and hope Santa made it to your house over the Christmas. This month, for a change, I’ve decided to concentrate on uilleann pipes and pipers drawn from the collections of Larry Redican, Tom Davis and Liam O’Flynn (all donated to the ITMA).  

Tom Davis and Larry Redican both collected older recordings from the Pipers Club in Dublin c 1950s. The Pipers Club Quartet was the brainchild of Leo Rowsome (1903-1970) and membership varied through the years but core participants were the ‘King of the Pipers’ himself, Leo Rowsome, and one of his major protégés, Sean Seery (1926-2002), both also featuring here on solo tracks from the same period. Tom was also on hand later in 1974 to record two pipers in great form attending the annual Tionól pipers gathering in Co Louth; Sean McKiernan, whose major influence was Willie Clancy and Andy Conroy (1911-1999), back from the USA and a devotee of the legendary Patsy Touhy. 

Liam O’Flynn (1944-2018) has been a major influence on young pipers through his virtuosity as both a solo player and member of Planxty and LAPD. Liam’s widow, Jane, kindly donated Liams collection of music, manuscripts and memorabilia to the ITMA. In these recordings, Liam is joined by a young Liam O’Connor on fiddle and long-time collaborator Steve Cooney in a 2004 Liberty Hall concert playing a pair of great piping reels. Another track features Liam with old friends, Arty McGlynn (1944-2019) on guitar and Rod McVey, keyboard, at a live concert from 1996 in the USA. We also have Liam playing solo in great form from New York from 1981. 

We return to the Tradition Club in Slatterys of Capel Street in Dublin, a vibrant meeting place for Traditional music and song in the 1970s, to hear Seamus Ennis’s (1919-1982) unique rendition of the Fairy Hornpipe and Wise Maid reel. 

Ath bhliain faoi mhaise daoibh, 

Padraic