In Ch. XVI of IMM, O’Neill describes a meeting with William Rowsome and Denis O’Leary in 1906, in which appears the following:
Old-time instruments in all stages of dilapidation were strewn about the shop awaiting repairs, the most remarkable being an immense set made on an original design, and which had lain unused in a Clare cabin for many years.
Always an impulsive enthusiast, my reverend countryman, Father Fielding, was bound to take a shot at it with his ever-ready kodak. Yours truly was persuaded - very reluctantly, though - to hold up the framework of the wonderful pipes to the proper level, it being understood that I was to constitute no part of the target. Standing sideways and leaning backward as far as equilibrium would permit, my outstretched arms presented the derelict instrument in front of the camera. Three months later the morning rnail brought me a souvenir from the reverend photographer in which my distorted likeness was more prominent in the picture than the pipes I had been holding!
An immense set of pipes which had spent many years neglected in Co. Clare … this seems to be a reference to the Vandeleur set.
Thanks to Billh for making IMM available to cheapskates like me who won’t buy the book: