Willie 50

[Mr.Gumby]

Some images, randomly picked, from the 50th WCSS (Willie Clancy Super Spreader , some would argue). They're monochrome, it worked out easier. I have not yet lost my sense of colour. So there you have it.



This covers Sunday-Wednesday. May post more later, if anyone is interested.

[Ceann Cromtha]

Yes, we’re interested. Thank you so much for posting these wonderful photographs!

[Seanie]

Absolutely wonderful Peter.

Thanks for posting these. I look forward to seeing any others that you may have.

The lighting in the Macdara one is spot on.

Cheers

John

[Mr.Gumby]

OK then, here's another few . I am only sorting though the Willie snaps at the moment and I am plucking some fairly random ones out of the lot, unedited, The concerts are lit in a bright yellow/orange that doesn't make people look very well so rather than editing that as best I can, I converted the lot to monochrome for now.

[rorybbellows]

Great photos Peter, obviously the best decision made for a long time was making you the official photographer.
RORY

[Mr.Gumby]

Liam McNulty used to bring out all the pupils of the more advanced piping classes out, creating a record of players. It also had the advantage you could catch players who were to grow into proper pipers very young. I cooperated on a few occasions during the late nineties/early naughties. This sort of thing:




That particular film also has images of young Louise Mulcahy, Seamus O Rochain and a few others that are still going.

And there's the young and upcoming from concerts of the nineties:



It's good to have record like that. For the 50th Willie week a photo presentation was put together with images through the years, right from the start to 2019. It was running on screens in the Hall. A lot of things have changed since the early years, a lot of familiar faces gone.

[rorybbellows]

a lot of familiar faces gone.

Great to see Dave hegerty still about
RORY

[Mr.Gumby]

Dave and his wife were on good form. It was good to see them. He was working away in the reedmaking room in the mornings, as usual.

[PJ]

Lovely photos. Have you considered putting together a book of photos of the WCSS over the years? I'm sure that there would be great interest in such a book.

[Steampacket]

Very nice photos there. Who is the young lady playing what seems to be a left-handed Wooff set? I've seen her before but can't think of her name. I recognise Rita and Marion, but not the other female pipers.

Good to hear that Dave Hegarty is still doing the reed making course. He was always very helpful. I heard that some people did get infected though, Jimmy O'Brien-Moran for one. Hope you managed to dodge the bug.

[Mr.Gumby]

The Willie Clancy Super Spreader name above was tongue in cheek. But only a little bit. It spread like wildfire. A lot of people came away with it.

The left handed set Muireann ni Shé is playing one of Derrick's and very nice it is too.

[Seanie]

She appears on the "Piping in the Parlour" series with her new set.

A lovely player and the set sounds wonderful as well.

Thanks Peter for giving us non-attendees a glimpse into the Willie 50.

According to the date on the right of the post I am 20 years on this site (would that be correct?)


John

[Steampacket]

Yes of course, Muireann Ni Shé, and Derrick was inspired/taught by Geoff. I looked at this video and the set does sound fine:
https://pipers.ie/source/media/?searchT ... 12&sPage=1

[Mr.Gumby]

During the Willie week a digitised photo exhibition looking back on 50 years of SSWC/WCSS ran on a big screen in the hall. Fun to see who you recognise, didn't everybody look young and how many we have lost and all that.

An, I believe, slightly extended version was posted on YouTube recently (I was told a few weeks ago it was to go up but didn't keep an eye out.). Kenny posted a link on thesession.org recently but it may be of interest here as well.

See here

[kenny]

Hi Peter - they are a great series of photos, a veritable "who's-who" of the traditional musicians of Ireland in the last 50 years. Sometime last year, or possibly in 2021, we had some correpondence about a whistle player, a young lady whom I had heard performing at the Flute & Whistle recital in 1980, Mary Anne Sexton. Is that her to the right of Micho Russell in the photo at 1min ?
PS - great to remember the times when Darach de Brun - and some others, self included - had hair.