Mr.Gumby wrote: ↑Sat Oct 01, 2022 1:05 pm
Rory, would have questioned the grant if it had been used to buy a Froment set ?
Or a Wooff or a Rogge, Kohler, Quinn etc?
I mean, that particular train left the station decades ago.
No big deal but why not an O'brien or Preshaw. Granted that some of the best makers are non-irish living outside Ireland. To my way of thinking an Irish promoting organisation might have been concerned that the money would go to an Irish maker, but obviously not.
I think its indicative of the way the pipes could go. The instrument will lose its irishness and become a stand alone musical instrument like any other.
Is this a good thing? Would it be something NPU are concerned about. Which is more important, the pipes or their Irishness?
Only time will tell.
RORY
The artist applies for the grant. I am sure Ronan had his reasons to go for one of Makoto"s and laid that out in his application. You'd have to ask him.
The Arts Council facilitates a wide spectrum of cultural development in Ireland.
elbowmusic wrote: ↑Sat Oct 01, 2022 7:24 pm
The Taylor Brothers were driving that train as it left the station 140 years ago.
Unfortunately that train ran out of steam and came to a stuttering halt. Luckily Kenna and Coyne didn't board that train and possibly inspired William to lay down some new tracks and once the train was running Leo stoked the boiler. Shame there wasn't a pipe maker named Casey Jones
RORY
Agreed enough from the buffers.
So before anyone else gets us sidetracked on a spur line... what news from the sleeper ( OP) ? Has he tried any of the suggestions ? Would he say he aprieciates the time taken to try and help or should we just not bother to respond in future to cries for help ?
Rory, (dispensing with the train metaphor) I'm not sure there's been a period of time since the Taylor brothers that there hasn't been at least one pipemaker in the US. So I think it's been more or less continuous(?), for about 150 years.
Mr. Gumby. That's certainly fair. I've heard some consider the US just the biggest, most obnoxious county of Ireland.
First of all apologies to Ian for hijacking his thread we really should have moved the discussion to it's own thread.
Secondly for me at least, its fantastic that pipemaking is really taken off in numbers and standard of manufacture. But Ronan's purchase reaffirms that the death knell is sounding for pipemaking in Ireland. Once Cillian is gone that'll be it. Preshaw might step up to the plate if he could just get his aesthetics in order, we'll see. Hats off of course to the guys at pipe craft, they really tried but you can't teach passion and now they are just providing the lads somewhere to go before they get a proper job. To finish it's the pipes that are important not where they are made and pipes will become a part of the diaspora like so many others.
RORY
Rory, you clearly need to get out more: Bill Haneman, Derrick Gleason, Donnacha Dwyer, Jim Wenham, Micky Dunne, just off the top of my head, and I know there a bunch more that I can't recall the names of that are all making great pipes in Ireland...
Yeah maybe, though none are raising the bar, imatators not innovators. None have that x factor that marks a maker above his contemporaries. But then again I'm probably being over critical, just my personal opinion.
RORY
Ps, I'll stop digging now.