Did this ‘really’ happen - seriously?
“Francis McPeake III gave John Lennon lessons on the Uilleann pipes.”
[ http://www.rte.ie/radio1/story/1011960.html ]
Yes, I had heard this too. Apparently the Clan McPeake were engaged to provide music at a party for John in New York. They played the gig, and John was taken by the pipes. While in the US he got lessons from Francis and got him to order a full set of pipes from Ireland, to be delivered on their next trip. In the meantime John was exploring other avenues, and told Francis he could keep the pipes.
This may be anecdotal, but I did meet Charlie Lennon, great Irish fiddler, and John’s uncle in the Liverpool Irish Centre some years ago, and in conversation he said that he had heard that John did start to take up piping at one stage.
FWIW
Mike
I believe a few other famous people had/played pipes too.
James Cagney, Kate Bush and the Von Trapp family of Sound of Music fame were in possion of a Willie Rowsome set.
Oh, and Paddy Moloney.
Tommy
My set!
I believe it was made by the Crowley Brothers of Cork/New York City - not to be confused with Tadgh Crowley of simply Cork. The Crowleys are pictured on the cover of the Shanachie Wheels of the World LP/CD, pictured at the extreme right and left of the front row. Mark Walstrom wrote that they were pipemakers, and my set looks like the one featured here. But it could be by some other amateur maker.
The chanter that came with the set is much nicer - most likely made by Patsy Brown. I’ve seen photos of four or five P. Brown chanters, played three more myself, and a full set.
Edelweiss!
The Beatles tried to book Paddy Keenan for the Abbey Road sessions, apparently, but he was too blase at the time.
The McPeake feature mentions how “faring” (sp?) music was being lost. I’m not sure what this refers to, and they don’t explain it on the show. Is anyone familiar with this term and can define it?
Thx,
djm
Do we know what happened to these pipes?
Wouldn’t surprise me, The Beatles experiemented with all kinds of music and not just Rock 'n Roll.
Didn’t John Lennon (during the Beatle years) approach Paddy Keenan about playing in an album? But for some reason Paddy Keenan turned the offer down. Or so I’ve heared.
Cheers L42B 
In May a few of us met PK in Montreal. He was talking about how pipers were completely unappreciated in the 60s. He gave up piping for 3 years, preferring to play guitar. He even tried to throw away his pipes as he couldn’t even pawn them (imagine our expressions when he said this) but luckily a friend retrieved them and held on to them until Paddy was convinced to play them again. Later, he was asked by another friend to audition for the Beatles (he didn’t mention which album they were recording at the time). Instead of going to the audition with his pipes, he went busking with his guitar instead.
Paddy Moloney was scheduled to record in Abbey Road with Paul McCartney on the day after Lennon was shot. He rang up from Dublin and was told to still come on over. They sat around and talked about John.
Paddy had recorded there before in the late 1960s and McCartney had looked in on his recording session and was fascinated by the pipes. The irony was that no pipes on the Beatles recordings. Paddy is on the B side ‘Rainclouds’ of a McCartney/Jackson single Ebony and Ivory.
… McCartney/Stevie Wonder single Ebony and Ivory. McCartney and Jackson did “Say, say, say”.
That’s correct.
The details are on the McPeake’s website, or used to be.
Now, you’re winding me up - yes, What next? …
… let me guess: Bela Lugosi, John Denver and the Swiss National Bobsleigh team? yeah right. 
This is the only McPeake web site I found: http://www.francismcpeake.com/
It wasn’t just piping - I was told that the Fureys used to ‘busk’ up in Sligo (Hawk’s Well Theatre?) when they couldn’t even get a gig.
I think Peter is referring to this site
http://www.iol.ie/~ronolan/mcpeakes.html
“They have also performed in Moscow. Other admirers included Van Morrison and John Lennon who once asked Francie to teach him the uilleann pipes and almost bought a set off him.”
It used to be on the Francis Mcpeake one but aparently it’s all about the school now. Never mind.
Fairing music probably. Music that’d be played at horse fairs and festivals out in the open air.
Patrick.
Another celeb who can play pipes is Peter O’toole. It mentions him playing Paddy’s pipes(with different reeds rigged up) in the Chieftains biography.
Maybe it was brilliant piping emerging through genetics. He probably was related to Touhey (O’Toole the anglicized version of Touhey).