Rebel piper honoured in county of his birth

Lifestyle –  Judy Murphy meets Mick Crehan, who has spearheaded a unique festival to  celebrate 1916 leader Éamonn Ceannt

He may have left Galway when he was a small child, but 1916 leader Éamon Ceannt was born in Ballymoe on the Galway-Roscommon border and was a proud Tribesman all his life.

Ceannt, who was executed for his part in the Easter Rising, was also a hugely talented uilleann piper, and with his wife, Áine O’Brennan, played a key role in that instrument’s revival in Ireland. In 1900, he was a co-founder of na Píobairí Uilleann, which is still going strong today. Both Éamonn Ceannt and Áine O’Brennan were Irish-speakers and members of Conradh na Gaeilge and the Gaelic League, while she was also a member of Cumann na mBan.

Ceannt left Galway when he was a baby, as his father who was a constable in the RIC, was transferred firstly to Louth and then to Dublin. But he was a regular visitor throughout his life. He met Áine in Galway and when he decided to learn Irish, he came to Spiddal, frequently returning to the Connemara village with Áine and their son Ronan.

Ceannt’s legacy will be remembered in his native county next month when the annual Galway Sessions, June 12-19, marks his contribution to Irish culture and society.

Some of Ireland’s top pipers will take part, including Liam O’Flynn, Mick O’Brien, Tommy Keane and Ronan Browne.

Scottish piper and singer Julie Fowlis will also attend, giving a free open-air concert in the city’s Latin Quarter on Friday, June 17. One of Scotland’s foremost traditional musicians, she will be accompanied by her full band for this event on Mainguard Street.

“There are a lot of outdoor events this year,” says musician Mick Crehan, who organises the Galway Sessions.

The annual Sessions festival always attracts top-class Irish and Scottish performers to Galway, but this year’s event is exceptional, both for the quality of its acts and the number of free open-air events. Not to mention that almost every performance will include pipes, in tribute to Ceannt.

That’s because the 2016 Galway Sessions forms part of the official 1916 programme, being supported by the Galway Centenary Programme and Galway City Council, says Mick.

The programme will also include a special outing to Éamonn Ceannt’s birthplace of Ballymoe on Thursday, June 16. A commemoration event there at 6pm will be followed by a performance by Scotland’s Ullapool Pipe Band and a recital by the Éamonn Ceannt Quartet. This foursome was specially formed for this year’s Sessions by the current secretary of Píobairí Uilleann, Tommy Keane and includes himself as well as Marion McCarthy, Peadar Giles and Cormac Cannon. That concert will be at the Fr Flanagan Memorial Centre in Ballymoe.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.