It is with the deepest of sorrow and regret that I must relay to the uilleann piping community the passing of my friend Kirk Lynch.
Kirk Lynch was a musician for most of his life. He first took up the guitar at the age of 12, later added bass and a variety of other stringed instruments, and then played professionally in a variety of bands and styles. This eventually led to his enrollment at Boston’s famed Berklee College of Music in the late ‘70’s, from which he graduated in 1982 in jazz guitar. It was during his time in Boston that Kirk first heard and was attracted to Irish traditional music and in particular, the uilleann pipes. Following graduation he moved to the Kansas City area. He took up the study of the pipes in earnest and became involved in the then developing Kansas City Irish music scene. This soon led to his membership in the pioneering American Irish music group Scartaglen, and toured for the next ten years until the band broke up in 1994.
Beginning in 1985 and based on a desire for an instrument of more refined tonal character, he first ventured into pipemaking. Using experience gained while employed at a machine shop during his school days, Kirk first began building pipes on a part-time basis. After the breakup of Scartaglen he decided to pursue pipemaking as a full-time profession. Kirk soon became one of the top pipemakers and a key part of the revival and renaissance of uillean piping in the United States. His pipes were sought out for their craftmanship, their clarity of tone and subtlety of timbre. Kirk’s pipes have been played by some of the greatest pipers of our times across the stages and concert halls of the world.
And yet… he was the humblest of men. Kirk lived a quiet life in the historic river town of Weston Missouri, in a house built in the first half of the 19th century which he swore was haunted. He loved an off-color joke, a nice tawny port, and his partner Cindy. His huge laugh filled the room. I would like to say Kirk was a good friend, but in reality, he was the best of friends, he was salt of the earth, a good man, a gentleman and a gentle man. He was a musician, piper, pipemaker.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam
A Go Fund Me page has been set up if you would like to donate a few pence to help defray the cost of his estate arrangements. https://gofund.me/766b87a6
