Na Píobairí Uilleann

Chairman, NPU

An Píobaire

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9 1 25 20130207 25 LITTLE MOMENTS OF MAGIC BILL SLATTERY Whatever the precise facts of these paintings are, it is quite clear that the portrait of “Pat O’Conner” is an intriguing addition to our archive of bagpipe images. Whether he repre- sents an actual 17th century figure or not is an- other matter but if the painting could be shown to date to 1679 it would present a fascinating insight into the history of Irish pipers within England. I must thank Paul Roberts for some very help- ful feedback on an early draft of this piece. NOTES 1 Chirk Castle Accounts, 1666-1753 edited by W. M Myddelton (Horncastle, 1931). 2 It can be viewed at http://www.national- trustcollections.org.uk/object/1171167. 3 John Morrill, ‘Cholmondeley, Robert, earl of Leinster (1584–1659’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Ox- ford University Press, 2004; online edi- tion, May 2007. L OOKING BACK AT THE YEAR 2012, it oc- curred to me that over the past 12 months we have been remembering and com- memorating quite a few anniversaries of events or demises by the number of decades ago they happened. We were reminded of the Titanic dis- aster of 100 years ago, the queen’s 60 year reign, Seán Ó Riada’s passing away 40 years ago the previous autumn, and last autumn we commem- orated the 30th anniversary of Séamus Ennis. 50 years ago in 1962 saw the first full year of RTÉ or ‘Teilifís Éireann’ as it was known then, the ballad scene was in its infancy with the Clancy Brothers and the Dubliners entering the scene, and that same year the Beatles had their first hit record. 40 years ago, 1972, there were some very sad and unforgettable incidents in Northern Ire- land, but that year I always reckoned was a mile- stone in the revival and rapid increase in popularity of our own traditional music and in particular the pipes. I will never forget the first time I heard a newly formed group with the strange name of ‘Planxty’ on Ciarán MacMath- úna’s Sunday morning radio programme playing a few popular Carolan melodies such as ‘Lord Inchiquin’ ‘Planxty Hewlett’ and ’Sí Beag Sí Mór’, and being totally blown over by the beau- tiful sweet sound of the piping of Liam ‘Óg’ Ó Floinn. Prior to that day I was vaguely familiar with the piping of Ennis, Clancy and Paddy Mal- oney, but wow – Liam’s sound was like noth- ing we had heard before – and , although I only played guitar and mandolin at the time, I was hooked from that day on and swore to myself that this was my music of the future. A month or two later I got my first opportunity to see Planxty live, in the Chariot Inn in Ranelagh, and what a night it was. The place was packed, mostly young people who 5 years previously were so engrossed in the music of the 60s they wouldn’t be seen dead at a traditional gig, and from the moment they came on stage, Christy, Donal, Andy and Liam created an electric at- mosphere that just got better and better as the night went on. As well as their Carolan num- bers and catchy songs, they gently introduced us to jigs, reels, hornpipes and polkas and I particularly remember Liam’s solo rendition of

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2013-02-06T00:00:00

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