1st Port Trophy/ Piping Live/ Results from Ireland

The successful dinner and piping recital held in 2022 to mark the 50^th anniversary of the 1^st Port Glasgow BB pipe band winning the 1972 World Juvenile championship raised a significant amount of money, writes Donald McRae.

This has now been distributed. The two remaining Boys’ Brigade companies in Port Glasgow, Inverclyde, each received £150 to further their good work, and the remaining sum was used to purchase a trophy to be presented annually at the Gourock Highland Games.

The inaugural presentation of the trophy was made at this year’s games held last Sunday, 14^th May. The trophy was awarded to the winners of the Juvenile competition, who, by coincidence, came from Inverclyde: St Columba’s School, Kilmacolm.

The organisers of the dinner and recital are grateful to everybody who supported the event, which resulted in the donations, the trophy being purchased, and thus the name of the ‘1^st Port’ living in perpetuity.

The above photo shows three of the organisers with the trophy and the winning band.

PIPING LIVE 2023
The popular festival will run again from August 12 – 20th, the week prior to and including the World Pipe Band Championships.

This will be the 20th anniversary of the event. Finlay MacDonald, Artistic Director, said: ‘It’s incredible to think back on how much the festival has grown in the last 20 years. I’m extremely proud to be involved in the direction of what is now a major cultural and musical event for Scotland.’

Highlights include the Masters solo piping championship, the pipe band quartet competition featuring Field Marshal Montgomery, Inveraray, Manawatu, Shotts, Boghall, and the 78th Frasers, and a recital competition featuring Angus MacColl, Stuart Liddell, Sarah Muir, Callum Beaumont and the 2022 champion Matt MacIsaac.

In addition to the above there will be daily performances by pipe bands in Glasgow’s city centre and a stream of events in the street cafe at the National Piping Centre.

Tickets and more information on all events at www.pipinglive.co.uk.

IRISH RESULTS
Lack of space precluded the inclusion of the following results from Gilbert Cromie’s report yesterday.

The Ulster Solo Piping and Drumming Championships, Lisnagarvey High School, April 22. The big winners were Alan Ferguson, Matt Boyd Memorial, who won his first Ulster Senior Solo Piping title thanks to a win in the Piobaireachd A and a second placing in the Senior Grade MSR.

In the drumming Stephen Creighton, St Laurence O’Toole, won his second Ulster Senior Solo drumming title with a first place in the MSR and a second in the Hornpipe & Jig.

Under 16 Piobaireachd: 1 Sam Purvis; Piobaireachd B: 1 Reece Doherty; Piobaireachd A: 1 Alan Ferguson; H&J: 1 Craig Muirhead; Novice Practice Chanter: 1 Mollie Watson; Novice Piping: 1 Joshua Eakin; U14 1 Philip Murphy; Juvenile U16: 1 Jack Suitor; Juvenile U18: 1 Ewan Mitchell; C Grade Junior; 1 Reece Doherty; B Grade Intermediate: 1 Mark Hasson; A Grade Senior: 1 Alan Ferguson; a full list of prize winners at rspbani.org.

The Leinster Pipe Band Championships took place on May 6^th at Newbridge House, Donabate, County Dublin. There was an entry of fourteen bands across four grades and while there were no Grade 3 entries those present were more than compensated by March Strathspey and Reel and Medley performance from the two Grade 1 bands present.

Four NI Branch bands took the opportunity of getting in some early season competition namely Down Academy, Irvine Memorial, Closkelt and Moneygore. The IPBA engaged an experienced panel of adjudicators: John Reville and Mark Faloon (Piping), Alan Ronaldson (Ensemble), and Keith Orr (drumming).

Grade 4B: 1 Moneygore (pictured above), 2 Youghal (also Best Drums), 3 Letterkenny. Grade 4A: 1 New Ross (also drums) 2 Arklow. Grade 2: 1 St. Joseph’s Clondalkin (also Best Drums). Grade 1: MSR 1 St Laurence O’Toole (also Best Drums) 2 Closkelt. Grade 1 Medley: 1 SLOT(also Best Drums) 2^nd Closkelt.