RSPBANI Branch are marking their 75th Anniversary this Saturday with a Gala Dinner in the La Mon Hotel & Country Club. This will be a formal black-tie gala event featuring a drinks reception followed by a three-course dinner, live music and plenty of dancing.
The NI Branch will be celebrating their people, partnerships and progress. There will also be a charity raffle on the evening with some fantastic prizes up for grabs! Proceeds will go to Pipe Band College Northern Ireland.
Special room rates are available to patrons which include full use of the Country Club during their stay. Tickets can be booked through the RSPBANI website; enquiries to rspbani75@rspbani.org or call 0752 636 6396.
Seventy five years ago, January 1951, the first meeting of the newly formed Northern Ireland Branch of the then Scottish Pipe Band Association took place in Belfast. The bands that formed this fledgling organisation had broken away from the Northern Ireland Pipe Band League which was part of the North of Ireland Bands Association.
They had become the first Branch based outside of Scotland and in due course would become the largest. A lot of pipe band fans may not be aware the quite a few pipe bands did not join this organisation favouring to stay with the NIBA, among them Dromara Highland, 29th BB Old Boys and most of the County Tyrone bands – however they would soon go with the flow.
The dinner organisers are seeking photographs of the bands that have been at the heart of the branch over the years. They are also looking for pictures of band that no longer exist. These images will be shown at various points during the evening.
Photographs should be sent via the NI Branch’s SharePoint Folder on the RSPBANI Branch Facebook page. Alternatively mail good-size photos to rspbani75@rspbani.org stating dates, place, personnel.
Every photo will help tell the Branch’s story — the teamwork, the successes, the bonds, the lasting friendships. If you have any queries or need any assistance, you can contact our Media and Communications Chair, Erinn McIlwaine on the above email.
IPBA: The Irish Pipe Band Association has published its itinerary for the 2026 season starting with this weekend and the Ardmore International Piping Festival featuring the Irish leg of the European Knock Out and the Ardmore Cup. The following weekend, 28th February, Leinster Solo Piping & Drumming Festival takes place at Rush National School.
On the 11th April are the Pan Celtic Solos, Carlow, followed a fortnight later on the 25th April with the Munster Solo Piping & Drumming Festival at the Redemptorist School of Music, Limerick. The IPBA outdoor season gets underway on Saturday the 16th May with the Leinster Piping Championships at the outstanding location of Newbridge House, Donabate. It is likely that this contest will be one of the first locally and might prove a suitable location for bands from the RSPBA NI Branch.
On 23rd May are the South of Ireland Festival Championships, although its viability and venue have still to be determined. On the 13th June the UK Championships take place at Grove Playing Fields, Belfast, while the IPBA have the Munster Band Gathering listed for Tralee. On the 28th June, the East of Ireland Pipe Band Championships are at Howth. The last event listed are the All-Irelands on Saturday 4th July at St. Catherine’s Park, Lucan.
Causeway Coast & Glens Piping Society continues to make excellent progress encouraging the best of local solo pipers to each monthly session. On the 9th of January it was Field Marshal Montgomery’s Ashley McMichael under the spotlight and on the 13th of February it was up and coming piper Reece Doherty. He won the Belfast Tradfest solo competition last Summer and made it to the final of Pipe Idol in 2024. He has been invited to compete at the Ardmore Cup. Reece has played with Kildoag, Raphoe, Colmcille and Manorcunningham and this year its St. Laurence O’Toole.
- If you have any news from the NI piping and pipe band scene you’d like to pass on to Gilbert, please email him here.
