Meeting Cillian O'Briain

Whistle
1

What vacation to Ireland would be complete without shopping for whistles? :slight_smile:

Thanks to some of you helpful Chiffers & Fipplers :smiley: , I was guided to the small shop of Cillian O’Briain in tiny Dingle, Co. Kerry. Off the beaten path at the edge of town, I found Cillian’s workshop in a small crafts village.

As it turns out, Cillian closed his retail shop some time ago, and now only maintains a workshop :confused: . I believe he may have been surprised to have a visitor. The shop is full of workbenches, grinders, lathes, etc., truly a working environment.

I inquired about his tin whistles, and he proceeded to find a step ladder and search for a certain cardboard box amongst others on a shelf. The box revealed several dozen O’Briain-improved Feadogs, and one tuneable low-D. 'Twas the low-D I had my heart set upon, and it played beautifully. I added a high-D Feadog to the shopping cart.

I pressed Cillian for an impromptu tune on the low-D, and he obliged.

As I was walking out the door, Cillian stated “You’ve just purchased possibly the last low-D I’ll make.” :astonished: He went on to say that his interests remain with the Uilleann pipes. A chill went to the spine, thinking about having the last of a quality instrument from this craftsman (though to be sure, there must be more on the shelf at Shanna Quay and the like).

This was the highlight of my trip to Ireland. I am practicing the reach on the low-D, and thinking about the lovely little harbor town of Dingle and a little shop on the hill.

Below is a picture of Cillian and the low-D on the right, meself on the left.

2

The easiest way to post a picture is to upload it to http://www.imageshack.us . After you upload, it will give you the codes you have to enter in your post to make the image appear. Easy and free.

The only problem you may have is if your image is too large you may have to resize it first so people can see it comfortably.

Another option (which will also do the resize for you) is http://www.snapfish.com . You’d upload the picture, then display it, capture the image’s URL and use write the BBCode to make it appear.

Of if you want, PM me for my email address, email me the pictures and i’ll put them up for you.

g

3

Nice story, Ould. Very cool.

4

Why would anyone want to make pipes? :stuck_out_tongue:

Great story. Sad ending! :cry:

5

Oops. I forgot I’ve got a Greenwood whistle on order. I hope he doesn’t read this thread!

6

It’s been known for a long time that he was going to stop making low whistles and concentrate on the pipes. I think he’ll still continue to make the “improved” high whistles.

g

7

Very cool, Ould!

8

For people who don’t have Flash, here’s a transcription of the add:

“I served with John Kerry”
“I served with John Kerry”
“John Kerry is a very bad man!”
“John Kerry kicks little puppies for fun!”
“John Kerry eats babies for breakfast!”

9

You forgot to transcribe one line:

“That really hurt my feelings when John Kerry said bad things about the military in 1974.”

:slight_smile:

10

Thank you guys for bumping it! :smiley:

11

Although I have to say, it’s rather low class of you guys to hijack Ould’s thread. Not that it’s out of character, just pointing it out. Why don’t you two start an OT “we’re liberals so it’s okay for us to lie about anyone who disagrees with us, but it hurts our feelings when Blackhawk tells the truth about our guy” thread? Maybe in your initial post you could go into some detail about why liberals can’t tolerate dissenting opinion?

12

You hijacked the thread, Bloom and i simply provided a public service.

13

I tried it and it was easy. Thanks for the link.

Mike

14

quote: " ‘You’ve just purchased possibly the last low-D I’ll make.’ He went on to say that his interests remain with the Uilleann pipes. A chill went to the spine, thinking about having the last of a quality instrument from this craftsman."

That’s the last quality whistle from this craftsman. If you’ve seen his uilleann pipes, you know he’s made the right decision.

No E (ducking a running back to the UP forum)

15

He hijacked it by having an link in his signature? Why, the unfeeling brute!

Maybe I’m a bit of a dinosaur, but signature files have been an routine part of newsgroups and message boards for decades now, and most people learn to distinguish the signature from the post itself. I tend to treat signatures, unless out-and-out extreme, as the online equivalent of a political button or a bumper sticker.

Near as I can tell, his post was right on-topic. A heck of a lot more then yours - or mine.

16

On-topic follow-on post:

That’s a nice story. Though it’s sad to hear he won’t be making more low whistles, I’d also agree that he may be making the right decision. It’s a LOT easier to get a good quality low whistle than a decent set of pipes.

I hope that glauber is right about him continuing to make the “improved” high whistles, but he’s probably doing more for Irish music (and, I hope, his wallet!) by concentrating on expanding the limited supply of pipes.

17

I can’t speak for liberals or anyone except myself, but I don’t have a problem tolerating dissenting opinions. I don’t have much patience for people call their spin on things ‘the truth,’ though. Particularly in politcs and particularly particularly in presidential campaigns.

So Ould, you gonna link that picture? Use the image tags:

18

Yeah, I was pretty happy to see that there were 16 posts on this topic, since I like Cillian’s whistles, and there’s not much out there about them. And probably even less since he doesn’t make them anymore. Too bad.

Then, I find all this political BS in here where there’s supposed to be whistle BS.
Let the discussions be what they were about, and post the Big BS OT! There it can go on for 1,347,529 posts, and all you deliberators can be happy too!

19

I have to agree with Larry. Cillian made the right decision since there’s a lot of talented irish kids in need of tough reliable in-tune pipes. Cillian’s pipes are definitely rugged, they work well and have a big sound ideal for noisy pub sessions. Just ask Gay Mckeon, Mick Coyne, or our man AlanB. They’re not for everyone but if you need an accordion crushing, banjo blasting weapon of mass destruction for holding a big session together in a noisy pub, well, Cillian’s the man for the job.

I hate to say it but American whistle collectors need another low whistle option like 13mm holes in their heads.

20

I’m at a loss for a witty remark here. You’re right.

I think it’s awesome that there is so much demand for good pipes for beginners. Low whistle IMHO is a novelty - nice but not really a session instrument. If he stopped making his “improved” high Ds, it would be a big loss, but still understandable. There are plenty of great whistles to be had.

g