Uilleann pipes owned by 1916 leader to be displayed in Ballina museum

A set of uilleann pipes owned by 1916 leader Eamonn Ceannt are to be put on display in Ballina. 

The pipes will return to the Jackie Clarke Collection next month to mark the 60th anniversary of the Ballina Salmon Festival.

Eamonn Ceannt’s set of Uilleann Pipes will be transported from the Curragh Camp Military Museum on the afternoon of July 9 2024 where they will be put on display until the morning of July 11 2024.   

On July 10, Ballina Heritage Day, acclaimed uilleann piper and Ballina native Eamonn Walsh will give a performance on the iconic pipes, which date back to 1845. 

Eamonn Ceannt last played the pipes during St Patrick’s Day 1916, only a few short weeks before he was executed for his role in the Easter Rising.

The pipes were last displayed in the Jackie Clarke Museum during the Connacht Fleadh in 2023.

“We are hoping as many people as possible take this opportunity to come to the collection to see this very special musical instrument that belonged to a truly remarkable man,” said a spokesperson for the Jackie Clarke Museum.

Born in Galway in 1881, Eamonn Ceannt was devoted to the Irish language, music and dance and joined the Gaelic League in 1900.  

He became a fluent Irish speaker, began teaching Irish and changed his name to the Irish format. 

He was also an excellent musician and uilleann piper, winning a gold medal at the Oireachtas na Gaeilge in 1906.

In 1908, he received a Papal blessing for a performance in Rome with members of the Catholic Young Men’s Society, where he participated in an athletics competition to celebrate the jubilee of Pope Pius X.

He founded the Dublin Pipers Club in 1900 which ultimately laid the seed for the formation of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann and Na Piobairi Uilleann.