Na Píobairí Uilleann

Chairman, NPU

An Píobaire

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8 4 28 20120927 28 and baritone drones, the bass drone was assem- bled from bits he had lying around, and the regu- lator similarly was a random one that Matt picked up somewhere. During one of his visits, Willie gave Brian a tenor regulator for his flat pipes – it was actually sharp of C, but with the insertion of rushes and general fostering, they managed to get at least some of the top notes in tune and Brian was delighted with his now ¾ set of pipes. Some time later, possibly around the time of the Oireachtas competition, Brian bumped into Willie Clancy in O’Donohue’s Pub. Clancy was wear- ing a big overcoat, which he proceeded to open, and from the depths of the inside pocket he pulled out the wooden part of a bass regulator and gave it to Brian. Brian was delighted and he made the keys for the regulator himself and with the help of Matt Kiernan he made the metal tubing and they fitted the bass regulator to complete his first full set of pipes. In 1968, in an attempt to arrest the seemingly ter- minal decline of the uilleann pipes, Breandán Breathnach, Seán Reid and Séamus MacMathúna sent a call out to all known pipers in the country to gather in the Neptune Hotel in Bettystown. A famous photograph taken at that event shows 48 pipers and Brian Gallahar is right in the middle of the shot. At the time Brian remembers the general standard of piping was very poor, as was the tun- ing of the instruments themselves. But there were some great pipers around too: Tommy Reck, the Brophy brothers, Leo Rowsome, Séamus Ennis and Willie Clancy amongst others. This meeting saw the formation of Na Píobairí Uilleann. Brian watched the scene at the top table where the piping heavyweights were gathered. Leo Rowsome reached into his wallet and slammed down a £50 note onto the table saying it was for the new association, and Séamus Ennis then followed suit slamming down a £50 note of his own. So the new association had some funds in the kitty but nowhere to carry out the practical side of teaching the instrument. Eventually Brendán Breathnach found a room on Parnell Square be- side some Republican offices. Dan O’Dowd was teaching the classes here and he asked Brian to come along and give him a hand. With only one room at their disposal, the lesson consisted of one pupil being taught at a time in the middle of the room with the teacher while 19 or 20 other pupils sat around the room awaiting their turn, each prac- ticing their own different tunes generating a wall of cacophony! The lessons were pure bedlam, and to add to the confusion, Brian was teaching using his C chanter while most of the students had concert pitch pipes. Several students, including Noel Pocock, were won over by the mellow sound of the Brian’s flat pipes and went on to get flat sets of their own. Willie Clancy died in January of 1973, and the first Willie Clancy festival was held that sum- mer in Miltown Malbay. The instrument classes that year were only for the instruments that Clancy had played himself, namely fiddle, flute, tin whistle and uilleann pipes. Breandán Breathnach taught the beginners pipes that year, Brian took the intermediates and Pat Mitchell taught the advanced class. Brian taught pipes at every Willie Clancy week from the inaugural year until 1999. In 2000 Brian was invited to teach pipes at the Scoil Acla music school in Achill Island, Co. Mayo, and continued teaching there until 2005. Brian was also invited to teach at the inaugural South Sligo Summer School in Tubbercurry in 1986 and has taught there every year since. This year, 2012, during the South Sligo Summer School festival, a wonderful tribute concert was held with Brian as guest of honour to celebrate his vast contribution to traditional Irish music in gen- eral, and uilleann piping in particular. Edited from an interview with Brian Gallahar at his home in Carrowteige, North Co. Mayo, July 2012.

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