Eamonn Ceannt ob. 8/5/1916

[Roger O'Keeffe]

Today is the centenary of the death of Éamonn Ceannt, who is mainly known as one of the signatories of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic, executed in the aftermath of the Easter 1916 Rising.

I only became aware within the last year or so how important he was in the preservation of the living tradition of uilleann piping. Seán Donnelly describes him as one of the 6-8 individuals without whom the tradition might well have died, just as the harping tradition did.

Members of NPU should by now have received the latest issue of An Píobaire, which is almost entirely devoted to this aspect of his life. Ceannt was a founder and very active member of the original Dublin Pipers' Club in 1900. Indeed, the club went into decline when he resigned as secretary, as he became more involved in the Irish Republican Brotherhood and the struggle for independence from Britain. But, while he was still Secretary, he engaged Nicholas Markey as tutor for the club, and one of Markey's pupils was James Ennis, Séamus's father. That may be the route through which Liam learnt it.

One of the first times I heard Liam O'Flynn playing live was at a Planxty gig in the old Pavilion Theatre in Dún Laoghaire, I think it would have been in 1972. He played "Kid on the Mountain" and "The Blooming Meadows", and mentioned the fact that these were two tunes which Nicholas Markey taught in the old Dublin Pipers' Club. I learnt both tunes by listening so often out of sheer delight to a tape recording which I had made that evening that it didn't take any effort to learn them.

You don't often hear "The Blooming Meadows" these days, possibly because it was such a classic that it became played out (its no.87 in Joyce). But I made a point of playing it at today's session in O'Donoghue's in Dublin as a little gesture of commemoration of Éamonn Ceannt. It's a tune worth resurrecting, as it goes very well on the pipes.

https://thesession.org/tunes/4066

[tompipes]

Eamonn Ceannt's contribution to the promotion of piping has been much neglected, as were the other folks who were involved in the first Pipers Club in 1900.

There is the romantic thinking that Irish pipes making was on it's last legs in 1900 but the truth is that there were about 10 instrument makers in Dublin alone that made Irish pipes in 1900.

Some were woodwind instrument makers but some (3 or 4) were just humble Irish pipes makers.

However, the few that did make Irish pipes were encouraged and sponsored by Ned Kent. (The man we speak of was the first to Gaelicizie Kent to Ceannt with the help of Colm O'Lochlainn, founder of the 3 Candles Press (where Ennis worked) and last surviving member of the IRB)

Only for Eamon Ceannnt, William Rowsome would not be the famous maker we know today.

Patrick Archer, Pat Nally and Ceannt were really the true organisers and promoters of the first Dublin pipers club and when Ceannt resigned the whole thing fell apart.

RIP Edward Kent / Eamon Ceannt

[Brus]

There's a biography of Ceannt which I mention in this thread:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=101031

[Roger O'Keeffe]

*scrapes egg off face*

Realised that today was the 8th! I misread the date on my watch on Friday, and plead in mitigation that the light was poor when I read it. So this evening, to atone, I played The Kid on the Mountain.

There were wreath-laying ceremonies in Kilmainham Jail this morning for the four whose anniversaries fell today, attended by their surviving relatives. Although Éamonn Ceannt was an important leader of the Rising, his execution was delayed until the 8th because the evidence given in his court martial was so shoddy that even the court had doubts about convicting him, and his sentence was confirmed on the basis of police intelligence supplied to General Maxwell rather than the evidence produced in court.

Ceannt's grand-niece Mary Gallagher has written a biography of him http://www.obrien.ie/16lives/eamonn-ceannt, published by the O'Brien Press in 2014 in a series of biographies of all the executed men. I haven't read it yet, but I understand that it gives a full account of his involvement in the national cultural revival, including uilleann and "war" piping alongside his military activities.

Incidentally, he referred to them as "The Union Pipes - sometimes called, by what authority I do not know, Na Píopaí Uilinn".

[tompipes]

Thanks Rodger for the update on the commemoration events.

Ceannt really should get more recognition for his work as an early promoter of uilleann/union pipes.

Incidentally, they were always called Union Pipes until a chap called W Gratten Flood (Musicologist and somewhat Gaelic League spin doctor) invented the term "Uilleann Pipes" around 1906. The term only really caught on in the '30's with re-founding of the Dublin Pipers Club. But even up till the 80's the older pipers (Kiernan, O'Dowd, Reck) would always refer to the lower pitched sets as Union Pipes and the D sets were called Uilleann pipes.


Tommy

[Cathy Wilde]

Thank you, gentlemen! This is great.

[Roger O'Keeffe]

Here's a link to the issue of An Píobaire devoted to Éamonn Ceannt: http://pipers.ie/source/media/?galleryI ... iaId=26935

I have scoured the interweb, but the TG4 documentary is nowhere to be found. The last couple of episodes of the series are still on TG4 viewer for a few days, but the episode on Ceannt is already expired. It's a pity, because his role as promoter of the pipes receives unusual prominence in a series primarily about the political and military role of the seven signatories of the Proclamation of the Republic.

The title of the series is Seachtar na Cásca (The Seven Men of Easter). The commentary is in Irish but there are subtitles in English. Here's a review - I wouldn't agree with everything in it, but it's not bad over all, and I would agree with the reviewer that the series is good as docudramas go: https://neverfeltbetter.wordpress.com/2 ... -na-casca/

Someone posted bootleg copies of the whole series on YouTube, but these have all been taken down following a copyright complaint - maybe that gives reason to hope that it will be either issued on DVD or rebroadcast.

Incidentally, the episode on James Connolly (still up on the TG4 website for a few days) includes remarks by Prof. Diarmuid Ferriter on Henrietta St, now the home of NPU but in 1916 the epitome of the worst of Dublin slum conditions, with 800 people housed in tenements in just 15 houses.