Na Píobairí Uilleann

Chairman, NPU

An Píobaire

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9 1 22 20130207 22 T HE NATIONAL TRUST has recently made available online digitised records of about 700,000 objects in its collection (“from laudanum bottles to a pair of Aertex under- pants”!). Amongst these items is one which may be of real interest to historians of Irish piping al- though it is something of a puzzle. The piece in question is a painting to be found at Chirk Cas- tle close to Wrexham in north Wales. Measuring 58 ¼ x 24 ½ inches it is painted in oils on paper and card which has then been fixed to a wooden board and is hung high up in the dimly lit Ser- vants’ Hall; as a consequence the best available photographic image is disappointingly indistinct. Since the details are difficult to make out, it may be worth quoting the catalogue’s descrip- tion of the painting: “a full-length figure, turned slightly to the right, smiling/laughing and gaz- ing at the spectator, wearing a crumpled hat, coat, breeches, the buttons of which are undone at the knee, stockings and short boots, holding bagpipes in his hand and under his right arm, his fingers on the pipe ready to play.” There is also a companion piece, of exactly the same size and clearly by the same hand, of a fiddle player similarly attired but this time turned to the left and smoking a pipe. Remarkably for paintings of such vulgar fig- ures, both musicians are named; the bottom left-hand side of the fiddler’s portrait has the inscription “Phelim O’Dogerty” whilst the bot- tom right-hand corner of the painting of the piper records the name “Pat O’Conner”. What could the story be behind these two por- traits? The catalogue tentatively suggests that the musicians may, in fact, be the same players mentioned in the Castle accounts for August ~ SEANCHAS ~ AN IRISH BAGPIPER IN 17 th C. WALES Dr. Clive Matthews

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2013-02-06T00:00:00

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