Na Píobairí Uilleann

Chairman, NPU

An Píobaire

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8 1 24 20120206 T HE FAMILY OF AL PURCELL has donated a copy of a 1954 letter from Leo Row- some to Leo Purcell. Leo covers a stan- dard topic between a pipemaker and a piper, reeds, and Leo Purcell’s request for a few “beezers”. The disposition of son Al Purcell’s order for his Rowsome set is discussed with Al requested to “state the mounts required and the diameters of the ferrules” and to “call here” during an upcoming trip to Ireland. Al’s Row- some set that is mentioned in this letter is still in family hands. Two Row- some sets were going to New York at a price of $250 USD each. Leo Rowsome reports that son Leon is a “smashing piper and plays in the (Rowsome Pipers) Quartet regularly” and son Liam now has “honours in Grade 5” on the violin. Leo mentions a possible tour of se- lected American cities. As Leo Purcell had taught warpipes for several years in the room next to where Leo Rowsome was teaching uilleann pipes at the Municipal School of Music, Leo Rowsome mentions that it is his 34th year there but he has yet to attain permanent status despite a continuous response that Leo had an insufficient number of teaching hours. Al Purcell always had a story about Leo Row- some whenever you caught up with him. When describing a ‘soft’ flat set of pipes, Leo Row- some once said “You couldn’t hear it through a Dublin Bus transfer”. On returning from a group music tour in London, Leo was told that someone was having trouble getting a bottle of alcohol through Customs. Leo Rowsome walked back, snatched the bottle from the Cus- toms man, broke the seal, opened it, and took a swig. The man and his bottle were now al- lowed through! Thanks to Mrs. Ann Purcell and daughters, Patricia, Mau- reen, and Aline, with assistance from Jim McGuire, for this do- nation. I assisted the Purcell family with reviewing and cataloging the music files that Al Purcell had kept over the years. The family is delighted to share these materials in Al’s memory, a man who also shared much of himself with so many over the years. Materials will include a 40 minute per- sonal piping/letter tape that Peadar Broe sent to Al Purcell just one year before Peadar passed away in 1974, a 1991 solo concert by Liam O’Flynn (I had attended a 1989 Liam O’Flynn and Donal Lunny concert in Detroit with Al), and some interviews with Al’s father. JIM MCGUIRE Chicago “. . . you couldn’t hear it through a Dublin Bus trans- fer.” – Leo Rowsome 24 ~ Seanchas ~ 1954 LETTER FROM LEO ROWSOME TO LEO PURCELL

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