Showing 19 results

Authority record
Uilleann pipes

Reid, Seán, 1907-1978

  • IE ITMA P00008
  • Person
  • 1907-1978

Reid, Seán. (1907–78). Fiddler, piper, organiser. Born Castlefi n, Co. Donegal. His father, and uncle John Reid, played fiddle; the family home was a meeting place for musicians throughout his childhood. This listening was supplemented by 78 recordings and he learned fiddle and was taught ‘classical’ piano. School life involved Irish dancing; local fiddler Eddie Toland provided music for this. Raised by his mother, in 1927 he went to Queen’s University Belfast to study civil engineering and science; while there he learned to play bagpipes in the Officer Training Corps, and was a committed and successful athlete. Interested in literature, his regular browsing in the city’s famous Smithfield market yielded a Tom Ennis 78 rpm record and kindled his passion for the uilleann pipes. Competing in an athletics event at Feis na nGleann in Cushendun soon after brought him into contact with Meath-born piper R.L. O’Mealy. A period in Dublin brought him in contact with John Potts’s family and friends, a circle which included Breandán Breathnach and Tommy Reck.

Clare
In 1937 he began work with Clare County Council as a civil engineer. A friendship with fiddler Martin Rochford of Bodyke resulted in the two of them working together at learning uilleann pipes. Leo Rowsome was one of their mentors, as was Johnny Doran whom Seán visited regularly. Joe Leyden, who worked with Seán, was another invaluable contact in those years. Seán Reid’s presence in Clare was to have an important influence on the music and its players. From his house in Ennis he was a catalyst and voluntary coordinator for many of the musicians in the county and he played an important role as musician and leader in the Tulla Céilí Band. He brought players together at a time when transport was scarce and communication difficult, often taking them to competitions as far away as Dublin. Humorously described as one of the ‘driving forces’ in Clare (one of the few who had a car), he frequently endured personal sacrifice and expense supporting issues in which he believed, never afraid to speak out where he felt it necessary. His application and commitment to traditional music as an Irish art, as a bridge across political division, and to piping in particular, marks him as critical in the traditional music revival.

Dedication
He was involved in the early CCÉ, in 1956 a key figure in introducing it into the northeastern counties through the Derry and Antrim Fiddlers’ Association, and he was the proposer of setting up Na Píobairí Uilleann in 1968. His work in the field of piping has been extremely valuable. In the years when pipes were held in little regard he collected several sets, passing them on to pipers when interest had revived, thus ensuring that players would have good instruments with which to continue the tradition. A gentle personality, a careful researcher and collector, a tireless organiser and a humble, caring, scrupulously honest man, he impressed and succeeded by conviction and discussion: one of music revival’s most fondly remembered mentors. [ JIO, EDI]

O'Flynn, Liam, 1945-2018

  • IE ITMA P00057
  • Person
  • 1945-2018
Born Kill, Co. Kildare. His father, also Liam, plays fiddle; his mother, Maisie Scanlan, had links to Co. Clare music through her cousin, Junior Crehan. He was introduced to uilleann pipes by Garda Tom Armstrong who had won prizes at Oireachtas and Fleadh Cheoil in his early teens. O’Flynn studied initially under Leo Rowsome, and later was influenced by Willie Clancy and Séamus Ennis (who bequeathed his pipes to him). A solidly traditional player, he has also been involved in many imaginative projects. He was a founder member of Planxty in 1972, with Christy Moore, Dónal Lunny and Andy Irvine, and played on all their recordings. In 1980 he recorded The Brendan Voyage, a work for solo uilleann pipes and orchestra, written by Shaun Davey. He also worked with Davey on Granuaile, The Relief of Derry Symphony and The Pilgrim. His fi lm score credits include collaborations with Mark Knopfl er and Elmer Bernstein. He has appeared and recorded with John Cage, and with popular musicians Kate Bush, Enya and The Everley Brothers, and has also performed with Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney. He took part in the first concert of Irish music to take place in the BBC Proms at the Albert Hall in London in 1999, played in Celtique Nuit at Stade de France in Paris and Shaun Davey’s Dublin Special Olympics performance in 2003. Among his c. 50 recordings are The Poet and the Piper (2003, with Seamus Heaney) and Voices from the Merry Cemetery (2009, with Davey, Rita Connolly and Seán Keane and others). In 2004 he was part of the Planxty regrouping, and in 2007 he was awarded TG4’s Gradam Ceoil.

O'Brien Moran, Jimmy

  • IE ITMA P00053
  • Person
  • b. 1957-
O’Brien-Moran, Jimmy. (1957-). Uilleann pipes, saxophone. Born at Tramore, Co. Waterford, his interest in Irish music, and piping especially, was awakened through Planxty, whose sleeve notes prompted his listening to Séamus Ennis and Willie Clancy. At age seventeen he began playing on a Matt Kiernan chanter and homemade bag and bellows. Lessons from Tommy Kearney, tips from Donncha Ó Maidín and Pat Mitchell’s classes at the Willie Clancy Summer School in 1975 and 1976, at Liam O’Flynn’s in 1977, all developed his playing, placing him on The Piper’s Rock showcase album of young pipers in 1977. He played pipes, whistle and saxophone with Scullion 1979–80 and also played saxophone in a ten-piece dance band for several years. Having worked in the jewellery trade for a number of years he took a music degree in 1992 and now lectures at WIT. His PhD research at UL concerned Galway piper Paddy Conneely; he was Fulbright visiting professor at Boston College in 2008. He plays a pre-1825 Colgan B set, this ‘loaned for life’ by the late Seán Reid. He played at the Sense of Ireland festival in London in 1980 and at the French 1996 l’Imaginaire Irlandais festival, has toured Europe, and USA and New Zealand. He gives workshops, lectures and writes in the field of piping. His solo cd entitled Seán Reid’s Favourite was released in 1996.
Results 1 to 10 of 19