Hi
I found this photograph in a book
This must be Johnny Doran
Didn’t see it before
written to it: an Irish piper playing at the fair in ballycastle, Co. Antrim 1955
here is a detail
This is Johnny Doran:
I don’t know who your friend is. Perhaps Peter knows.
djm
Johnny Doran was seven years dead by 1955. I considered it was Felix for a while (given Sean reid’s description on the lp cover) but it turned out it was in fact old Francie McPeak (it might be the Armagh piper’s website who identified him, can’t remember).
It’s the same guy… look closely.
looks like the same set of pipes to me
It’s not Johnny Doran. It’s Francis McPeake the older one. Different nose, different right hand, different ear, different eyes, different cheekbones. More apparant if you study other photos of Johnny. Also Johnny died in 1950, and this pic is supposedly taken in 1955 
thanks for the info
there is another piper in the book
(the music, songs & instruments of irland, Karen Farrington)
without a name to it
somebody knows?
The only slight problem I have with the identification of the piper as Fancie McPeak is the fact that he looks exactly like Francie did on the photograph in O’Neill’s minstrel and musicians. My initial thought when seeing the photograph for the first time was of that but the little change in the person in both photographs, taken more than 30 years apart, made me reject the possibility it was in fact F McP. I did show the photograph (I have it in the book Irish Country Life: recollections from the past ISBN 1-85585-309-4, a great collection of photographs) to several peopl who knew the Dorans (that was at Bobby Casey’s funeral by the way) and they all agreed it wasn’t either Johnny or Felix. Then Steampacket pointed me to the Northen website that also identified the piper as the elder F. McPeake.
Notice how the elder piper in Carel’s last photo is carefully concealing the reg keys so that Kevin will not be able to identify the set. 
djm
I think it’s Johnny D myself. Similiar brow and nose, general build. The extant photos of him are all straight-on portraits, of poor quality, not quality profiles like this one. He’s playing a Rowsome set with a popping valve sliding on a gadget soldered to the bass drone, held up with what looks like a saxophone strap - quite the string of coincidences. The turnings, size of ferrules, style of bass drone, all match. McPeakes played O’Mealy and McFadden pipes in every photo I’ve seen or recording I’ve heard. What’s Francie Sr. holding in that picture in IMM? He was supposed to have an O’Mealy set even back then.
I’d wondered about this photo before.
Fromage. I mean, Froment. Ken McLeod called it “chrome kitchen fixtures.” If he were a Yank he’d probably liken it to a Harley.
It’s deifinetly not Johnny as far as I can tell from the features (I had a good yarn with Liam McNulty about this shot and he had some sensible observations with regards to the features). If you connect the pipes and the way they are held and Sean Reid’s description of Felix (the whole lot, including the pioneer pin) the initial thought would be Felix. Four or five people who knew Felix well during the fifties and after (including Tommy McCarthy and Michael Falsey) were quite definite it wasn’t him so that ruled out the Dorans for me.
could be famely
its the hair thats different
maybe somebody has a more quality portrait of Johnny (right) to compare?
compare the left and right ear
Your man on the left, probably ginger/blonde
Your man on the right, black!
Left thinner lower lip than right
Right wider lower jaw than left
Definately not J.Doran imo
Didn’t he say ‘stainless steel has a place in the milking parlour, not in piping’ 
not sure about that Ricky
The fact that one is probably ginger and the other black closes the case for me already really.. 
Pretty sure I saw the photo in question somewhere saying this was in fact one of the Francis McPeakes. Their website is down, but I cna see what info i can find…
Definitely true that in all extant photos Johnny’s hairstyle could be described as “Shaggy Jarhead,” and this other guy has a bit more natural coif. Other photos of Johnny show him with slightly longer hair combed over to the right. Maybe one of you techie types could digitally map/revolve the photos around. Real CSI stuff here…
Anyway I’m mostly looking at the pipes, why is a McPeake holding Doran’s pipes? If it’s their own, why did they stop playing standing up? Did Felix use the shoulder strap and bass drone dingus?
What’s a “Pioneer Pin,” Peter? Some wagon component?
Questions, questions.