I want to write a blurb advertising a recital which will feature a Coyne set.
Can anyone point me in the direction of a potted history, please? When I try Google, I get pages of Mick rather than Maurice.
Excellent question, Mr. Coyne and son are a bit of an enigma; all that seems to be readily available is that Maurice apprenticed to the Kenna shop in Essex Quay, Dublin, and started making pipes on his own in the 1820s-1830s. His son John took up the trade and made some excellent instruments too. The Famine and the cultural despair that followed seems to have brought an end to their pipemaking. Don’t know any birth or death dates for either of them, nor do I know if or when they emigrated.
I’m very curious to know more about him as well. I’m sure there are a few pipemakers out there who would commit unspeakable acts to acquire Maurice Coyne’s notes and tools. 
The Sean Reid Society CD-ROM Vol. 2 has an article by Sean Donnelly, “A Century of Pipemaking 1770-1870: New light on the Kennas and Coynes” that will most likely tell you everything we will ever know about these pipemakers. http://www.esatclear.ie/~seanreid/
Michael Coyne and Maurice Coyne from Kildare
Moved to Dublin 1818-1830 set up as pipe makers
They made some beautifully crafted instruments,
I thought they were brothers?, I sure Patrick has
a couple of snaps of a Maurice coyne set on his
site, the set was restored by Geoff Wooff. 
Roger,
here we are.
http://www.concentric.net/~pdarcy/photos/wcss2000_7.jpg
http://www.concentric.net/~pdarcy/photos/wcss2000_1.jpg
This from O’Neill:
Maurice Coyne was one of four brothers from Carbury Co Kildare, took to “playing the pipes” and acquired the tools of Kenna the younger. His shop was at 41 James St Dublin. Coynes pipes display neat workmanship and though lacking in volume are pure and sweet in tone.
This from Sean Donnelly An Piobaire 1981:
John William Coyne - this is the man who took over Kenna’s business and was described as a musical instrument maker. He may have married Kenna’s widow as she is listed in 1840 and John William in 1846. It is not known if he was actually related to Maurice or John Coyne.
Maurice Coyne - maker of scottish and union pipes first listed at James St in 1840, moved several times and was last listed in 1861 at 6 Thomas St Dublin.
John Coyne - son of Maurice - first listed in 1855 at 123 Thomas St until 1862.
John was the best uilleann piper in the family according to Seamus O’Casaide.
It is not known why the Coynes both ceased business about the same time. There are no known dates of birth for any of the Coynes. However the fact that the Taylors and Harrington both emigrated in the 60s/70s, it may just be there was slump in demand for pipes which put them out of business.
Interestingly a flute exists stamped Coyne, Dublin and bearing the coronet which also appears on some of their sets of pipes. No highland pipes by any of the Coynes has survived.
Ken
Hi Patrick,
you sure have some lovely picture on your site
lots of information on different makers of
pipes and styles, new and old, “great site”
Thanks to all for those helpful contributions. I’ll contact Ken McL re the Seán Reid society (I still have to get my head around the concept of those two names being so closely associated…), but I don’t know if I’ll be able to get the full story from him in time for the deadline.
As is so often the case with the history of the pipes, the situation is more complicated than one realised, but there is also plenty of knowledge out there to be reassembled.
The set in question is one which belonged to Willie, and Séamus Ó Rócháin will be playing it here in Brussels next month. I understand from the person who put us in touch that Séamus is not much of an IT man, and he’s doing us a favour, so I didn’t want to bother him too much by e-mail. He did tell me that Willie picked the set up for a fiver in London in the 1950s, that it’s in B and that it’s estimated to be about 200 years old.
The set contains some non-Coyne bits and pieces, I played it at some point and the light from a window on my left revealed a stamp on the back of the chanter head ‘M.Egan Dublin’ it said. It also had it’s tonsils done unfortunately.
Pat Mitchell mentions Willie picking the set up in the forward of “The Dance Music of Willie Clancy.” It originally had an curved metal extension on the bass which gave the notes F#, E, and D. It is heard on side 2 of Willie’s “Pipering Vol. 2.”
Hey Peter,
Muiris’ son has the set now, is that right?
Patrick.
Séamus is indeed Muiris’s son, and I assume that’s why Peter posted this particular photo.
BTW, I’ve now read Seán Donnelly’s SRS article and found it fascinating. Now I realise that I had good reason to be a bit hazy.
It seems as if one should by default use the plural form of the verb when talking about any old pipemaker, because there always seem to be an indeterminate number of bearers of each name, but rarely if ever just the one!
Right, this is the actual set you were talking about
It’s more of a “chop both ends” job, as far as I can see. Which unfortunately achieves a similar result 
That said, the currently installed rush (extending into the throat) seems to be a good correction.
The head seems to be the only Egan piece. Chanter seems to be Coyne, but apparently not from the same set as the body. I don’t recall any other non-Coyne pieces offhand, except for the mainstock which is a replacement (and converts the set to a right-hand configuration).
best regards,
Bill
It was going better than ever before when I heard it at the end of WCSS. And Seamus was going very well too.
I never examined it very closely, I played it for a good while once and noticed the nearly worn Egan stamp, that it is a bit of a bits and pieces job is clear enough.
Indeed!
I never examined it very closely, I played it for a good while once and noticed the nearly worn Egan stamp, that it is a bit of a bits and pieces job is clear enough.
Looking at my photos/notes, by my reckoning it’s about 80% original Coyne, which is more complete than most sets of its age.
Bill
That is a good metaphor 
and
t
Sad to say this metaphor is attributed to a well-known person who was known to “do” them on occasion. (chanter ‘tonsillectomies’, that is).
Bill
don’t ask me who if you don’t know, it’s all water under the bridge now
To grab a commercial catchphrase from my idle, television-watching youth: “If you want to get someone’s attention…whisper”
t