The Mid Ulster Pipe Band Championships took place at the Coolfranky Grounds of Cookstown High School on Saturday (June 1) when there was an entry of 34 bands and 37 drum majors. This is an excellent venue with an abundance of facilities on site in close proximity to the contest arena. County Tyrone is an area which has probably more pipe bands than any area of Northern Ireland and a…

By Gilbert Cromie I was unable to attend either of St Laurence O’Toole’s concert performances at the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow in the week before the 2018 Worlds or recently in Northern Ireland at the Armagh City Hotel where they launched the CD of the 2018 event. While I had heard some excerpts from both concerts on social media I had decided that I would purchase the CD because…

Here are the results from the County Fermanagh Championships held at Enniskillen yesterday. There was an entry of twenty three bands including half a dozen from the Irish Pipe Band Association and thirty two drum majors. While it was a dull day it stayed dry enabling a decent crowd to enjoy the competition which was held on the spacious Broadmeadow grounds of the Lakeland Forum Leisure Complex against the background of…

The 2019 pipe band season got underway yesterday (May 11) at Newtownards Airport in the shadow of Scrabo Tower. Despite a bright and sunny day, a stiff breeze coming off Strangford Lough kept temperatures low. Sponsored by the North Down and Ards Borough Council, all manner of stalls and activities were laid on and this created a family friendly atmosphere which is what these events are all about. It was…

This week marked the founding of the Northern Ireland Branch of the RSPBA 70 years ago. Happy birthday! What a journey it has been. On Saturday 30th April 1949 a meeting took place in Belfast which legendary Northern Ireland pipe band administrator Eddie McVeigh regularly referred to as ‘the best day’s business ever done for piping and drumming in Northern Ireland’. The previous evening three Scottish Pipe Band Association officials, William McLean (President), RC Whitelaw…