Rick Lines & Ceri Rhys Matthews – “To-ing and Fro-ing: Exploring connections between regions in Wales and Ireland”

Using the Welsh tunes collected by Canon James Goodman as a starting point, this evening will explore the historic connections, musical and otherwise, between areas of South and West Wales and parts of Ireland in the 18th and 19th centuries. This will include exploring dance tunes such as minuets that all but disappeared from the Irish traditional repertoire while remaining prominent in Welsh music.

Notes & Narratives will take place at Na Píobairí Uilleann, 15 Henrietta Street, Dublin 1, starting at 8:30pm on Thursday 20th April 2023. Admission is €10 (unwaged / student / retired €5). For those unable to attend in person, it will also be live streamed for free through our channel NPU-TV.

Na Píobairí Uilleann presents Notes & Narratives – a series of monthly performance-based lectures on traditional music, song and dance by some of Ireland’s finest traditional artists.

Supported by The Arts Council.

One-week course on making a concert pitch chanter to take place at Na Píobairí Uilleann’s PipeCraft Training Centre. Monday 10th April through Friday 14th April 2023, five days inclusive, 9:30am – 4:30pm each day.

Each student will be guided through the process of making a concert pitch chanter (D), by pipe maker Éamonn Curran. Students will learn the skills involved in producing such a chanter, and will get to take home the chanter they have made by the end of the week.

Cost for the course is €380 for members / €500 for non-members. (Membership can be purchased on the Na Píobairí Uilleann website).

This course is now fully subscribed. Please contact Na Píobairí Uilleann by email to info@pipers.ie or by calling +353-1-8730093 to be added to the waiting list, or to be added to an interest list for other similar courses in the future.

All participants will be required to adhere to all health and safety protocols in place at PipeCraft.

Na Píobairí Uilleann are delighted to present ‘Session with the Pipers’ in The Cobblestone on Tuesday 4th April at 9:30pm, doors open at 9pm. This month’s line-up features:

Diarmaid Moynihan (uilleann pipes)
Seán Keane (fiddle)
Gay McKeon (uilleann pipes)
Róisín Gaffney (song)

Admission is €15 (concession rate €10). Tickets are available on the door and on Eventbrite at: https://sessionwiththepipersapril2023.eventbrite.com

Please note that the Cobblestone is an Over 18s Only Venue.

Supported by Arts Council Ireland.

Na Píobairí Uilleann will have a premiere screening of a short documentary film “The World of Uilleann Piping: The Italian Experience” with performances from Gregorio Bellodi and Nicola Canovi

On St. Patrick’s Eve, Na Píobairí Uilleann will celebrate the uniquely Irish art form of uilleann piping around the world. We will be premiering the first of a series of short documentary films on the development of uilleann piping internationally. The event focuses on the Italian experience and will feature uilleann piping performances from documentary contributors.

Taking place on Thursday 16th March, the evening will include a reception with Italian refreshments and music from young Irish uilleann pipers at 7:30pm. As well as the screening, special guests Gregorio Bellodi and Nicola Canovi, two Italian uilleann pipers, will discuss their experience of uilleann piping in Italy and their connection with Ireland and Na Píobairí Uilleann. The evening will end with an informal music gathering.

Notes & Narratives will take place at Na Píobairí Uilleann, 15 Henrietta Street, Dublin 1, starting at 8:30pm on Thursday 16th March 2023. Admission is free but can be pre booked on Eventbrite.

Na Píobairí Uilleann presents Notes & Narratives – a series of monthly performance-based lectures on traditional music, song and dance by some of Ireland’s finest traditional artists.

Supported by The Arts Council.  

Two day course on tuning and voicing chanters to take place in Na Píobairí Uilleann’s HQ, 15 Henrietta Street, Dublin 1, Saturday 4th March – Sunday 5th March, two days inclusive, 10am-4pm.

The course will cover the concepts and processes of taking a chanter from the “as drilled” state to a finished instrument, including chamfering, undercutting, scalloping, rushing, and small modifications to the bore and tonehole diameters. Examples of voiced and unvoiced chanters in concert pitch and flat pitches will be demonstrated.  The decision making processes leading to these modifications will be discussed. In order to make the most of this course, it is a prerequisite that participants be experienced and capable in the physical manufacture of chanters. Participants will receive exclusive pre-recorded video content in advance of attending. They will also receive any supplementary material the course tutor deems to be beneficial. Participants who wish to voice their own chanters as part of this workshop should be prepared with a partially completed chanter and pass on details of their chanter in advance.

Cost for the course is €80 for members / €110 for non-members. (Membership can be purchased on the Na Píobairí Uilleann website).

Places are limited. Please contact Na Píobairí Uilleann by email to info@pipers.ie or by calling +353-1-8730093 for more information and to sign-up.

All participants will be required to adhere to all health and safety protocols in place.

The Leo Rowsome Commemorative Event takes place annually in Henrietta Street on the final Saturday in February. The event celebrates the life and achievements of Leo Rowsome. Leo Rowsome was one of the most significant figures in uilleann piping in the twentieth century, as a piper, pipemaker, organiser and piping teacher. The events of the day reflect all aspects of Leo’s piping legacy and include piping tuition, pipemaking and reedmaking tuition, a lecture and piping performance, followed by a social gathering with informal music.

This year’s event will be held on Saturday 25th February 2023. The event will include classes in uilleann piping with Jane Walls and the advanced piping class with Seán McKeon will have a focus on regulator playing. There will also be a class in reedmaking with pipemaker Joe Byrne. The evening’s activities will include a lecture by Peter Browne, “Pádraig O’Keeffe: The Last of the Fiddle-Masters”. The formal events of the day will finish with a recital featuring Tommy Martin, Lottie Cullen and the Wexford Pipers Quartet.

Programme of Events:

10:30 – 3:00 pm: Classes

Piping Class – Jane Walls
Regulator Workshop – Seán McKeon
Reedmaking Class – Joe Byrne

Classes €35 for members (€50 for non-members). To register for classes, please contact the office at +353-1-8730093 or email info@pipers.ie. 

7:00 pm: Reception

8:00 pm: Talk

Peter Browne – “Pádraig O’Keeffe: The Last of the Fiddle-Masters”

9:00 pm: Recital

Tommy Martin
Lottie Cullen
The Wexford Pipers Quartet

Tionól Dhún na nGall 2022 will take place on Friday 17th February to Sunday 29th February in Teach Hiúdaí Beag, Bunbeg, Ionad Pobail Dhún Lúiche, Moneymore and Crolly Distillery, Crolly. 

Programme of Events:

Friday 17th February

Venue: Teach Húidaí Beag, Bunbeg

8.00pm – Young Piper’s Recital followed by Piper’s Chair

Saturday 18th February

Venue: Ionad Pobail Dhún Lúiche, Moneymore

10.00am – Piping & Reedmaking Classes
Piping Class Teachers – Eoin Orr & Tom Clarke
Reedmaking Teacher – César Pastor

To register for classes, please contact info@pipers.ie or call +353 (0)1 87 30093. Classes are €35 for members (€50 for non-members).

3.30pm – Recital
Artists – Sheila Friel, Megan Níc Fhionnghaile & Cian McGrory, Cathal Ó Curráin, Martin Crossin, Theresa Kavanagh & Ian Smith

Admission: €15 for standard & €10 for students/unwaged/retired

Venue: Teach Húidaí Beag, Bunbeg

8pm – Piper’s Chair

Sunday 19th February

Venue: Crolly Distillery

12.30pm – Piper’s Chair

Accommodation:

Below is a list of accommodation options within the area. For more information on local accommodation, you can check out https://www.gaothdobhair.ie/en/categories/accommodation-in-gweedore and Airbnb

An Chúirt Hotel – http://www.gweedorecourthotel.com/
Caisleáin Óir Hotel – http://www.donegalhotel.ie/
Teac Jack – http://www.teacjack.com/
Danny Minnie’s –http://www.dannyminnies.ie/accommodation.html
Teac Campbell –https://teac-campbell.com/
Teach Mhicí –https://www.underthethatch.co.uk/miki#/property-page-information

Cathal Ó Curráin & Sheila Friel – “Turlough MacSweeney: The Celebrated Donegal Piper”

Descending from the Mac Swine Clan of Doe Castle, Turlough Mac Sweeney became one of the most celebrated and documented pipers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. From his early supernatural musical education from the faeries he travelled to Chicago World Fair 1893 and won prizes at Feis Cheoil 1897 and 1898. This talk is an updated collection of research into his life and music featuring photographs, local folklore and first-hand accounts of his piping and travels.

Notes & Narratives will take place at Na Píobairí Uilleann, 15 Henrietta Street, Dublin 1, starting at 8:30pm on Thursday 16th February 2022. Admission is €10 (unwaged / student / retired €5). For those unable to attend in person, it will also be live streamed for free through our channel NPU-TV.

Na Píobairí Uilleann presents Notes & Narratives – a series of monthly performance-based lectures on traditional music, song and dance by some of Ireland’s finest traditional artists.

Supported by The Arts Council.  

‘Session with the Pipers’ will take place in The Cobblestone on Tuesday 7th February at 9:30pm, doors open at 9pm. This month’s line-up features:

Colleen Shanks (uilleann pipes)
Ciara Ní Bhriain (fiddle)
Muireann Banks (banjo)
Nell Ní Chróinín (song)

Admission is €13 (concession rate €9). Tickets are available on the door and on Eventbrite at: https://sessionwiththepipersdecember2022.eventbrite.com

Please note that the Cobblestone is an Over 18s Only Venue.

Supported by Arts Council Ireland.

Piping workshops are being organised in Wicklow on a quarterly basis. The first workshop will be held on the 18th June 2022 with Gay McKeon as visiting guest tutor, and Éanna Drury taking the second class. The workshops are to be held on the following dates in Gaelscoil na gCloch Liath, Greystones:

Saturday 18th June 2022
Guest tutor: Gay McKeon

Saturday 24th September 2022
Guest tutor: Colm Broderick

Saturday 10th December 2022
Guest tutor: Caoimhín Ó Fearghail

Classes run from 10am-1pm. There will be an advanced and intermediate class, subject to demand. The tutors will perform as part of a short recital, after the classes conclude.

Fee per class is €15, which must be paid in advance to NPU. For further information and to register contact info@pipers.ie or call +353-1-873 0093.