Media

Píobaire, An, Volume 1, Issue 1, Page 3

Píobaire, An, Volume 1, Issue 1, Page 3
3 views

Properties

periodical Publisher
Na Píobairí Uilleann
periodical Editor
Chairman, NPU
periodical Title
Píobaire, An
volume Number
1
issue Content
(2) 2CUi\ ANN NA bPIOBAIRI UILLEANN, CORCAIGHSeventyone Years of TraditionPew Irish music associations or clubs 9 if any, can claim tobe in existence prior to the foundation of the Cork Plperst Clubin March 18989 seventy years agoLike many other places throughout the country, Cork City andCounty lost many of its great pipers and fiddlers as a result of theParnine years. The people themselves, had becoi ie indifferent tothe beauties of their native music.Some time prior t March 1898, a handsome young Tipperaryman arrived in Cork to take u a post as shopassistant in oneof the citys s-tcres, He was Sean Smithwick Wayland, a keenlover of Irish traditional music, and an excellent performer onboth uilleann pipes and warpipes.Sean had a great J:nowledge of the old music traditions ofCork and was able o tell who the great hen of piping, fiddling anddancing of that city were years before, He made his first contactwith nlderman William P}aair of G illabbey House, a fine performeron the uilleann pipes, and a man whom he knew he could count on torevive the old traditions.These two inca started a movement in Cork which was to becomefamous all over Ireland, America, Scotland, Ei gland and Wales.Right in onc of the busiest centres of Cork city at thistime lived 9 as he had lived for many years, unappreciated andunknown, one of the reatec t uilleann pipers that ever graced astage in Cork, LoP Thompson. It was only after a great deal ofpersuasion on the part of Alderman Phair that this shy but giftedmusician agreed tO icake a comeback. Having no pipes of his own,the Alderman loaned hue his own magnificent Taylor set which hadoriginally beer. the property of the famous Canon G-oodman, scholar,piper, and traditional music collector,Another great discovery was made by Sean Wayland himself, inthe person ol Sean. O Neill, though a man well into the evening oflife, was nevertheless, still an excellent piper 0Richard L. Ohealy, the famous piper and pipemakor; who was atthis time resident in Cork, was a wonderful asset to the newlyformed club,Tireless in advancing the interests of the club, Wayland andPhair traced out pipers arid fiddlers whose instruments had lainneglected in attics and presees for a score of years.Classes for the study of the pipes, fiddle, fla oelet, anddancing were d, and placed in the charge of the best teachersavailable, .Both. Wayland, who was the Cum ns first seoreta y, and Phair,its first President, had a passionate devotion to the music of theirilative land, and. without an iota of professional jealousy, taughtall they.khew of pipe music to whoever wonted to learn.They were the brains and driving-power behind the organisat ionwhich blazed the trail to success for many years, in spite ofdifficulties, some in the form of jealousy, and even boycotting,from unexpected sources. Petty bickerings, however, found no favourwith Wayland or Phair, and those who had not the stuff in them toenter into the spirit of the revival were brushed aside.In the summer of leO6, the club was visited by Captain FrancisO Neill, famous as a collector of Irish Music, and he expressed hisgreat delight at the revival of the uilleann pipes in Cork,, oneoing and hearing not only the old pipers themselves, but the
issue Number
1
page Number
3
periodical Author
[Periodical]
issue Publication Date
1969-03-01T00:00:00
allowedRoles
anonymous,guest,friend,member

Píobaire, An, Volume 1, Issue 1

Related Keywords