Identify the makers of these old things?

Uilleann Pipes
1

Here are some scans of some pictures I took a few years ago. Any thoughts about the origins of these chanters?

2

Patsy Brown?

3

Patsy Brown or the Taylors maybe?.

4

Looks like the Taylor brothers work to me.. I think they set up shop in Philadelphia :confused: …

5

That’s FrAANkenstEEN!

6

David,
Do you have photos of the bottom of the flap valve at the bottom of the chanter.
If theres 5 brass studs there, it’s Taylor. I believe the only consistant characteristic of Billy Taylor’s work is the 5 studs on the bottom of that valve.
Tommy.

7

Kirk Lynch has a similar chanter in his shop, he thinks it came out of the Taylor’s shop but was made by one of their assistants, real bugger to reed evidently.

8

Did o’mealy do this kind of chanter work?

9

  1. Michael Anderson: Born in Marlow near Ballymote, Co. Sligo, he was an older contemporary of Coleman, who esteemed Anderson’s piping very highly indeed. According to O’Neill he returned to Sligo in 1912, bearing with him a set of Taylor pipes and four of his own make. Tom Standeven of Lynden, Washington plays a set of Anderson pipes.

  2. James E. Brennan Jr.: James lived at 732 Butler Street, Philadelphia around 1915, together with his father J.E. Sr. In his scrapbook he writes that Captain O’Neill once told him he could never think of making a set of pipes. Judging by his customer list and the enormous 4-regulator set he was photographed with, the Chief was wrong.

  3. R. L. O’Meally: He was a Westmeath man working in Belfast from the early 1900’s till his death in 1948. O’Neill says (Irish Minstrels and Musicians, p. 164) that he followed the Taylors in making concert pitch pipes. He also made flat sets in the same style; Joe McKenna plays a lovely C# set by O’Meally.

  4. Michael Carney: He was a Mayo man who lived in Brooklyn ca. 1880-1938. In a photo from around 1915 he plays a Taylor style 4-regulator set. Another of his sets is owned by Jim Lavin of Roscommon, whose brother Paddy brought them home from America.

  5. Patrick Hennelly: He was the last of the Taylor school who died in 1979. Joe Shannon, Kevin Henry, and Rick O’Shea all own sets by Hennelly. His pipes feature many design innovations of his own. See Vol. XIV, No. 4, Fall 1996 of Iris na bPíobairí.

  6. Joe McKenna: Even today some of Joe McKenna’s sets show the Taylor influence. The Taylor gene may be recessive in modern pipemaking, but it has been important to piping for over a century.

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What the heck are ya askin’ us dim bulbs for, Dave? You’re the expert. Perhaps a good thing would be a Taylor/Taylor style chanter database, ala Terry McGee’s work with Rudall Rose Carte Etc. flutes.
I’m trying to get a photo at Yahoo to show here but it ain’t happening. The page with the photo is http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/kevinrietmann/detail?.dir=/60c3&.dnm=ebb9.jpg

My old, unmarked chanter - Patsy Brown, according to Dave - and it looks much like other P. Brown chanters I’ve seen. The metal dingus on the top of the windcap is new, by the way.

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Hard to tell from just those photos. As Tompipes mentioned shots of the end of the valve (the 5 rivets) could help determine if a chanter was a Taylor original. The bottom chanter doesn’t look like a Taylor made, looks more modern judging by the keywork. The top chanter looks like that chanter with the set found in Leicester, England. Doubtful if that ever was a Taylor set though. The middle chanter looks interesting, judging by the keywork, could be a Taylor or Anderson, very hard to tell, would need to see it in the wood, check the popping valve and shut off valve, feel the vibes. Send them over to Sweden and I’ll identify them for yes :slight_smile:

Jim L. has two Anderson’s, his own and his brother’s. One is used for spares (?) according to fiddler Andrea Brodie who visits/used to visit and plays with Jim, they don’t play at today’s modern A=440 pitch either.