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Píobaire, An, Volume 2, Issue 20, Page 2

Píobaire, An, Volume 2, Issue 20, Page 2
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periodical Publisher
Na Píobairí Uilleann
periodical Editor
Chairman, NPU
periodical Title
Píobaire, An
volume Number
2
issue Content
DINNY DELANEY AND SOMELESSER KNOWN GALWAYPIPERSNo other member ofDelaneys family carried onthe piping tradition afterDinnys death and no recoll-ection or written accountsuggests that he had anypupil who might have learn-ed piping from him. Changesin dancing fashions, socialconditions and customs aswell as the ever presentdifficulties and expense in-volved in getting pipes,reeds and tuition on theinstrument hastened its de-cline in popularity in thearea (and indeed nationally).None of Delaneys versionsof tunes seem to have sur-vived locally at all and heundoubtedly had had someunusual tunes and settingsto judge from the survivingcylinder recordings and FeisCeoil collection transcrip-tions.With the death of JohnReilly in Dunmore in 1927,piping in East Ga lway wasat a very low ebb. Appar-ently, the last genuine oldtime travelling piper afterthis time was MichaelRainey who together withhis father, Stephen are men-tioned in the 0 Casaidepapers as being from Ballin-asloe although Andy Conroysuggests that they were fromTuam. According to MattKiernans biographical notes ,the younger Rainey (0Casaides spelling) was play-ing in the early thirties andSein Donnelly recalls SeanReid mention how he diedsometime in the 1950s.In concluding thisaccount my thanks are dueto Willie Reynolds andTadgh Mac L,ochlainn whoseown researches and public-ations were of great assist-ance to me in the preparati2n nf this short article.In the year of his death,1919, Delaney was secondto Liam Walsh. His Chall-enge to Irish Pipers aspublished in the FreemansJournal on 19 August 1904,indicates his dissatisfactionwith the results of compet-itions he entered into.Dinny Delaney is stillremembered by older res-idents in Ballinasloe asbeing a great debater andconversationalist and thereare many larger than lifestories t&d about his sharpear and ability to get arouncalthough blind. He was re-garded as a great judge ofyoung calves and bonhamsand farmers sought him toact as a judge of theiranimals because he was con-sidered lucky. His wife andhimself kept a few pigs andit was said that he was ableto calculate the pigs , weightto the stone.According to the deathcertificate, Dinny died on28 November I 919 in Ballin-asloe Workhouse Infirmaryof pneumonia and the EastGalway Democrat gave thefollowing mention in theedition of Saturday 6December 1919.DEATH OF FAMOUSPIPERAt an advanced age DennyDelaney, Thallinasloe, thefamous blind piper, died onFriday night. On Saturdayevening the remains wereremoved to St Michael sChurch and on Sunday thefuneral took place to CreaghCemetary. Denny waswidely known and whereverhe travelled, either inIreland, Scotland or England,he was very hospitably rec-eived by the people. Hewas a familiar figure atalmost every wedding inthe country and his demiseis generally regretted.R.l.P.REFERENCES1. Tadhg Mac Lochlainn,Ballinas lve,his , fatherplay about2. The Parish of Lawrencetown and Kiltoriner byTadhg Mac Lochlainn. Thisstory is the only bit oflore about Wills thatcane to my attention.Local people are evenunsure of his first name.This book also mentions apiper named Costelloe whoflourished sometime inthe lath century.3. The 1918 ValuationOffice records show theDelaney ho-ne as being no.23 Aol gers Lane (entrancebeside Duanes Chemists onthe Main Street). Prev-ious entries in the Valu-ation Office records donot list Delaneys as theoccupiers of this houseso it is possible that hemay have lived elsewherein the town in the earlierpart of his career. Thehouse was destroyed byfire around 1919, the yea:of Delaneys death, theValuation O f lice recordsdescribe the house as aruin in 1922.4. Ballinasloe, .tnniuagus lone T. Mac Lochlainn5. Jack Fallon, SocietyStreet, Ballinas lce.6. Delaneys inisical act-ivities m st have providedhim with a reasonableincome; when his parentsdied, his mother in 1868and his fater in1874, hehad a headstone erected totheir memory. He isburied in this grave u iCreagh Cemetery thoughhis nanje is not inscribedon the headstone.historiar,recalls howheard Willsthis time.7. willieWalderstown ,Reynolds,Athione.8. Tacgh Mac Lochlainn,see 4 above.9. Peter Byrne, /,ughrim.2
issue Number
20
page Number
2
periodical Author
[Periodical]
issue Publication Date
1984-03-01T00:00:00
allowedRoles
anonymous,guest,friend,member

Píobaire, An, Volume 2, Issue 20

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