Ballycoan Part Three – Off to the Worlds and the Only Band from Outside Scotland

Ballycoan were the first band from Northern Ireland to travel to Scotland to pit their skills against the best. When the first SPBA World Championships were held in Edinburgh in September 1947, Ballycoan was the only band from outside Scotland that competed. They returned to the Worlds in 1948 and then in 1949 when they won the drumming in Grade 3. This indicates that the band were members of both…

Ballycoan Part 2 – From Small Beginnings, A Decade of Dominance for the Band

Ballycoan were definitely on their way and the 1950s were to see a decade of unprecedented success for them, winning, as they did, the All Ireland Championship band title on no less than seven occasions and the drumming on six. Pictured above, P/M William Wood receives the All Ireland Senior Trophy in 1951. But before we get to that terrific run of success, let us firstly go back a few…

The Famous Ballycoan, Northern Ireland’s Second Most Successful Pipe Band Ever

Ballycoan is a hamlet near the village of Purdysburn on the southern outskirts of Belfast. Despite its rural setting it supports both a flute band (formed in 1951) and a pipe band both of which are private organisations and, unusually, own their own band halls. Aside from the Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band, which was formed just half a dozen miles further up the road outside Carryduff, the Ballycoan Pipe…

Kids with Cancer Online Charity Concert Planning Continues

Planning is continuing at pace for the forthcoming ‘Kids with Cancer Charity Concert’ which will be held on Saturday 20th February 2021 from 7.00pm. Due to the pandemic the concert will take place online however every effort has been made to engage a quality line-up of artistes. This is a PAY PER VIEW ONLY event with the money raised going to the Children’s Cancer Unit Charity at the Royal Victoria Hospital,…

Pipe Band History – Robert Armstrong Memorial Part 3

Throughout the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s the band were regularly featured on BBC Northern Ireland Radio programmes such as ‘Ulster Band’. In 1974 they were invited to perform in a BBC television programme entitled ‘The Rock of Fergus’ along with The Pattersons folk group and harpist Deirdre O’Callaghan. It was one of a number of television appearances throughout this period. The band is pictured above 1974/75 at Carrickfergus Castle. The band…