Maurice & Alf Kennedy, pipemakers

[sean an piobaire]

I began writing to the Kennedys in Feb. 1973, and ordered a full set (price: 175 Irish Pounds) it never came.as they had a very long waiting list (sound familiar?) I barrowed a full set (made in 1959), from Pat and Sheila Brosnan of South San Francisco, in Sept. 1973. Then I visited the Kennedys at Cork, on two occasions, during August, and September, 1975. The workshop was in the Garage of the family home.
Moss was the main maker of the Uilleann Pipes, and Alf did GHBs (good, musical ones, I'm told, with a D at a perfect forth interval to the drone). Yes the Kennedy pipes were sharp of A=440, possibly at A=456, I think that was a standard pitch for a while, not just GHBs but Pianos, etc. The Pianos, I found on my visit to Ireland, chorded well in tune with my barrowed Kennedy set. (By-The-Way, Micheal Hubert's pipes are at A=440) Another version of sharp pitch standards, was called "Philharmonic Pitch". Barry O'Neill plays an English, Wheatstone concertina at that A=almost=Bb, "brilliant" tuning. Some notable features of Kennedy Pipes are: The "sound box" on the Bass drone slider is really a big, metal, hollow resonator, that booms out the bass "D" like a note off a Hammond B3 electric organ, with a Leslie speaker(Rock and Rollers will understand this reference) Owen Reagh's Dad, Micheal, made a point of calling my attention to this, as a undesirable, non-musical quality. As neighbors of the Kennedys, in Montenotte Park, the "Rays" had not spoken to Moss, or Alf, for years. I'm sure that Owen has lots of info on the Kennedys.
I, myself, happened to be captivated by the drone sound of Finbar Furey "kicking it in" on the "Pipes of Finbar Furey" album (Leader Records/Nonesuch) with that drone sound! Another feature, which WAS trouble, was the the position of the top hole on the Baritone regulator (the "A"). Dennis Brooks repositioned this hole and key, "North" on the reg body, to bring it into tune. This problem was consistant though a number of Kennedy sets, REGARDLESS of the reeds used. The pink rubber of the bag and on the bellows (hotwater bottle rubber) with use, went away fairly soon, with the sulfides attacking the material here in the USA, due to local air pollution. Dennis Brooks made this observation, and I agree, based on my 3 years experience with the Kennedy set. I did replace the bellows rubber with tacked cowhide leather cheeks. The rubber also keeps curing until it cracks, as the plastisizer "evaporates", in addition to the air pollution effect. Moss made rectangular reed heads, and his reed bench was behind a little pickett fence, with its own gate, to keep people from crowding over him, as he made reeds. He did show me how he tied the cane to the staple with maximum force, with the yellow hemp "handwaxed'' with (shoe)cobblers brown wax. One end of the string tied around a doorknob, as if being tied in like a stock into a bag. Moss was really adamant about it. No movement of reed head on the staple! I was given Tea and had my photo taken with Moss and I, seated on a park bench, that was in front of the house (myself with the N.Umberland Pipes in play). At one time (1970s), Kennedy set Pipers in California included: Dennis Brooks, Pat Cotter (RIP) and Dan Cotter, his younger brother. David Page (RIP) that set now with John Touhey. P.M. John Rosenburger, (he was in hospital when I visited San Diego, in June, I hope he's recovered), and the Brosnan set, of course. The Kennedys did make some wide bore A=440 chanters, late in the 1969-70s period, as Pat Cotter had one. I hope this adds to the knowledge about these remarkable makers, who "soldiered on" when no one else was making ANY full sets with all the Bells and Regulators! Your reporter: Sean Folsom P.S. Do any of you Cork Pipers know where Alf Kennedy is, these days? S. F.

[Piobairi Uilleann Inis Fa]

I believe I read that they inherited the pipemaking tools of Tadgh (Denis) Crowley, also of Cork. Fin Furey used to play a Kennedy set, also Maire Ni Ghrada. Denis Brooks, who settled in Cork of all places. Powerful pipes, as were Crowley's. I think Brooks has a couple coat hangers in the chanter bore...

I was in Cork ealier this year and was walking around and stopped in a music shop. I hadn't noticed the name on the store when I entered. I looked at some of their whistles and other stuff and inquired of any uilleann piping paraphernalia or any local places that might sell such. I ended up in a long conversation with the owner who came from the back room eventially to talk about UPs. As it ends up, the name on the store was Crowley's Music. The owner is the son/grandson(?) of the UP maker(s). He did say that they stopped making the pipes around 1950ish I think and that the equipment was sold to the Kennedys. His perspective was largly from a boy's perspective, and apparently diddn't reach an age where he could have aprenticed the talent before the elder Crowleys quit making the pipes.

I was also visiting Alain Froment on the trip and he mentioned that he acquired some very large wood posts many years ago, that were originally belonging to the Crowley pipe makers. Those posts were imported around the time of WW1, but sat at the docks when the war broke out as able bodied men were working only on war efforts. Apparently, the Kennedys only purchased the machines/tools but not the wood stock.

Neil

[patsky]

Years ago, in the ‘70s, I, along with Liam Clancy, visited “Moss Kennedy” at his house in Cork. He and his son were still making pipes and he showed me around the place.
Moss was making the reeds and his son was making the pipes.

I remember walking into the house and noticing that the place was full of Ivory and elephant tusks a couple of them at least 10 feet long.

I believe that Moss Kennedy actually studied pipe making with Crowley and inherited the tools. The Kennedy pipes are very close In design to the Crowley’s. Yes the pipes were sharp to concert pitch.

After a look around I got to talking with Moss about reed making. He asked if I made my own reeds and I told him that I did. He asked me to play a few tunes on my Rowsome set,
which were going bang on at the time; playing in perfect pitch and tone. I blasted out a couple of old jigs and Moss asked to take a look at the chanter reed. I removed the reed and handed it to him. He took it, looked long and hard, turning it over several times, finally he says, in a very thick Irish accent “ that’s not! how you make a good reed”. It was all I could do to keep from laughing. Later Liam and I both cracked up.


All the best,
Pat Sky

[PJ]

He took it, looked long and hard, turning it over several times, finally he says, in a very thick Irish accent “ that’s not! how you make a good reed”.

There's the right way, the wrong way and then there's the Cork way of doing things.

[Cayden]

There's the right way, the wrong way and then there's the Cork way of doing things.

[Kevin L. Rietmann]

There were apparently also some makers named the Crowley brothers in New York. I don't know if there's any connection.

Well, the name is the same...

The New York Crowleys are pictured on the cover of one of the Wheels of the World CDs, Vol. 1. Reg Hall wrote in the liner notes of the Hugh Gillespie (78s of fiddling) LP that Michael Coleman (Gillespie's teacher in New York) wrote the Crowley's #1 and #2 Reels in tribute to one of these Crowleys, Gillespie recorded Master Crowley's Reels (also called Miss Patterson's Slipper and the Roscommon Reel) in tribute to the other. These tunes are still in circulation. I have an old nothing-fancy Taylor copy set that looks like the full set one of the brothers is pictured with (and not like Brennan or other makers's stuff), I still use the tenor and baritone drones from that set, it makes for a nice story.
Mark Walstrom listed the Crowleys as pipemakers, every time I talk to Mark I mean to ask him where he found that out but I always forget!
Having to rush a chanter down to get it into pitch isin't always a bad thing - you can get a more rounded, flute-like tone, Paddy Keenan would be the best-known example of that. Most of these old sharp chanters were quite loud as well, you can mellow them out a great deal. Somebody wrote about a modern maker using rushes as standard.
There was a "fad" of sorts for playing in Eb or close to it - Joe McKenna is in Eb on his later LPs. The Galway flute player Paddy Carty was sharp of D, too. Matt Molloy and Tommy Peoples.

[Jumper]

Great stuff, everybody. Thanks for the stories.

A picture of some Moss Kennedy double reeds:



Jonathan