Re: Christy Fitzpatrick, sorry, I actually managed to misquote my own research! Not an ostler with the Gardai!

Chris emigrated to Canada in 1957, and brought the Harrington 3/4 set with him. He bought the set from Christy, who was a piper in Dublin. Christy was, according to Chris, a very peculiar but very nice old chap, a collector of pipes, with a brother, Andy, who played fiddle in the Gardai ceilidh band, and taught fiddle to members of the Pipers' Club. Chris met Christy through his (Chris') brother-in-law Jack Dunne, who was a male nurse at St. Brendan's, Grangegorman, a mental hospital in Dublin, where Christy worked as a groom with the horses.

Mick O'Connor told Emmett Gill that he thought Christy was a member of the Grangegorman attendants' pipe band. He met some of Christy's relatives who, he recalled, said his pipes went to the US.

Sean Donnelly said that Butlers were mainly manufacturers of warpipes, supplied pipes to the Army, and also had premises in Dublin, beside O'Connell Bridge. I am still fascinated by the prospect of a set of ebonite uilleann pipes in the 1950s. Apparently ebonite warpipes were a thing, bu as Chris also played the warpipes I doubt it was a case of mistaken identity.

If you wanted to pursue this further I would contact Emmett, Terry, and Sean directly.

Thanks for that Bensdad.




I 'll look that up. Noticed in IM&M page 269 that Shane O'Neill seems to be holding what looks like a Harrington set with a straight bass drone in the middle position, and by the Harrington looking mounts. Also Mollie Morrison on page 335 looks to be holding a Harrington judging by the bass drone and mounts. Mollie was from Cork, as was Shane (John) too, so it's possible they both would have had access to a Harrington set in the neighbourhood back then.

There's also that picture of him playing the Moloney bros. Vandeleur set. I'd have loved to have heard a recording of that!

On the Drones and the Chanters, he plays 3 sets. His own, a double chanter (in C#?) and a flat set (in B?). I'll check the inlay card later.

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PJ

Leo plays a Bb ? (I think) Coyne set , just one track, on "The Drones and the Chanters" volume 1. It is quite something !!

Yes of course , I have the LP. Haven't listened to it for years. Have to get it out

According to your own index of An Piobaire:

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My brain hurts

Kevin Rowsome plays a C natural Harrington full set.

On the CD The Rowsome Tradition he plays the C natural set and quotes on the sleeve notes "possibly made by Harrington.

I have seen and heard the Kevin C set at the Belfast Tionol many years ago plus have cassette tapes recording also.

The C sharp set Kevin plays is made by this great grandfather Willie Rowsome.

Cheers

Ferg

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Fergus Maunsell
Belfast
Ireland

http://www.myspace.com/fergusmaunsell

Right you are Peter. I had indeed indexed it. What a fine looking set it is with the extra drone up there on the stock. The mounts look typically Harrington as does the bass drone bend. The chanter bottom mount looks unusual though, perhaps a custom order or another maker's chanter?

I've read the article by Michael Grainger about Harrington in An Píobaire nr 30, 1986. Looks like Harrington's muse was the set of pipes played by James Gandsey, born 1757 or (1769) - died 1857. Gandsey was from Killarney. Grainger writes that possibly Harrington copied bore and other measurements from Gandsey's set. Gandsey would have been 43 or 31 at the turn of the century, 1800, so could have been playing a Kenna or Egan set as he was a professional piper?

Grainger also mentions in the article that a writer claimed in 1901, 49 years after the 1852 event, that an "elaborate set" shown in the 1852 Cork Exhibition, and now owned by the Browne family of Dublin (this is in 1986), was Gandseys set. Grainger is of the opinion though that this 1852 Cork Industrial Exhibition set doesn't resemble the the set seen in the well known portrait of Gandsey.

A little aside : I found this for sale two years ago:



You won't identify pipes from it (although the set in the drawing has a bass reg not present in the more wellknown portrait) but it's another take on what can hardly be anyone else but Gandsey. I passed it on to Terry M. and he bought it for NPU.

For all things Gandsey see : James Gandsey : The celebrated Killarney Minstrel by Ciarán Dalton (although it looks it has sold out in most places by now)

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My brain hurts

From D'Arcy's site, Diary 2000:






Is this the Cliff Castle set which was stolen in 1985, or the copy made by Iain Cameron's father?

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PJ

That’s the original.

Dosen't Becky Taylor have a Coyne or Harrington Set? They'll be a lot more than you think, if you average 2 full sets a year, then practice and half sets over their Pipemaking Careers, some would have had an apprentice or family member helping in their work shop I would of thought?,,

I believe Becky has a Coyne set with a possible Harrington chanter.

Didn't Becky Taylor have an Crawley set as well as a Harrington or Coyne set that Peter Hunter worked on? Thought I remember hearing something like that a few year back, but I could be wrong,,