I haven't heard anyone play it, Just Ennis on that particular recording.
The tune was written by Paul Brady for a project on Seán O'Casey, to coincide with the centenary of O'Casey's birth. I was holed up in a B&B in Dublin in 1980, I was travelling, trying to get a leaky bag on my first half set fixed. I was stuck in Dublin for a few days while that got sorted. I had one of the Sunday papers to entertain me, somewhat. In the paper was an interview with Paul Brady about a thing on S.O'C. in it he talked about writing and producing the music. He had given Ennis the music for the Thomas Ashe piece. He said on the day Ennis arrived, sat down in the studio and put it down in one go. Brady said it was complete in itself, Ennis had put it on the pipes and there was nothing for Brady to add to it.
That little bit always stayed in the back of my head and it was not until perhaps twelve years ago I came across a mention of the lp 'The Green Crow Caws' that had the music of the particular project and managed to track down a copy of it for myself.
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It is perhaps a lesser known factoid that Seán O'Casey played the pipes, both the uilleann and warpipes. He played the latter as a member of the Laurence O'Toole pipeband (which means he must have been at least half decent on them). Ashe, who was a friend of his, was a member of the Black Raven pipeband in Lusk. O'Casey wrote the 'Lament for Thomas Ashe' as a poem (although the did a prose version as well), I would assume Brady had the tune written to carry the words, much like the other music on the recording carries texts by O'Casey, both sung and as spoken word.
A leaflet, distributed before Ashe's funeral:
