The 1980s were a time of struggle and uncertainty for Ballycoan. The band continued to compete in Grade 2 into the early 1980s but there is not much evidence of it making the prize lists and as the decade progressed absences from competitions were more numerous. Brian Rea continued to work tirelessly to keep the band going. Despite his efforts, by 1985 it had moved down to Grade 3, although…

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 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…

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…