Author: Gilbert Cromie

Northern Ireland Pipe Band Round-Up: Parades, Contests and Exhibitions Keep Tradition Alive

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Over here in Northern Ireland the traditional parading season will wind down over the next month. On Saturday the 28th August the parades of the Royal Black Institution took place on a local basis. These parades have traditionally featured a significant proportion of our pipe bands, many of which will take their autumn break before resuming winter practices, and in most cases the tuition of learner classes supported by grants…

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Northern Ireland Pipe Band Festival Heading for a Sell Out/ Province Stages Live Outdoor Solo Piping and Drumming

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When the RSPBA NI Branch abandoned their contest programme they resolved to hold a series of Pipe Band Festivals and they get underway this Saturday, 7th August, with the Antrim & Newtownabbey Pipe Band Festival. It will take place at the Antrim Castle Gardens and it is supported by the local council and will feature bands, drum majors and Highland dancers performing under the RSPBA’s jurisdiction for the first time…

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Northern Ireland’s Pipe Bands Return to Action

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Toward the end of May 2021 the NI Executive announced that bands could undertake static outdoor practices (although no singing was allowed) and this was embraced enthusiastically by the majority of the country’s seven hundred bands. Week by week individual bands or band forums were showing photographs of bands at practice in all sorts of environments from car parks to farm yards in order to stick to the rules. Pipe…

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The Final Chapter in the History of Ireland’s Famous Fintan Lalor Pipe Band

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Pipe Major Finbarr Connolly, who hailed from Cork, was the first non-Dubliner to lead the band when he succeeded Pipe Major Tim J Keogh in 1976. P/M Connolly held the post for over two decades during which time the band would appear to have experienced considerable ups and downs. They competed regularly in Grade 2 and would often play up in the Open Grade competing against bands such as the…

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Pipe Band History: Fintan Lalor Enjoy Success Under P/M Tim Keogh

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Pipe Major Tim Keogh, who had held the Pipe Sergeant position for a number of years took over the leadership of the band in 1953. Tim was an accomplished piper and violinist. He was also a gifted composer with one of his tunes, The One and Only, being dedicated to his former Pipe Major, Paddy Solan. This was a time when competition within Ireland was getting stronger with the Ballycoan…

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