I assume that makers long ago didn’t have access to these wonderful modern hardwoods. Did they use whatever was to hand ( apple, cherry ) or am I missing something? Does anyone know where I can find a decent supply of boxwood (buxus sempenvirons ), the supplies I used to use seem to have dried up?
Thanks
Bob
Timbers like laburnum, holly and of course boxwood seemed to be quite popular among pipemakers, also the local fruitwoods.
For boxwood, try
www.octopus.com.tr/store/
www.cropp-timber.com
www.theodor-nagel.com
Tropical hardwoods including ebony and african blackwood have been available, though expensive, since before uilleann and union pipes existed. So in that sense your assumption isn’t correct.
I know of several sets of pastoral pipes from around 1770 made of ebony. Boxwood was also very popular for pipes.
Some of the early Coyne and Kenna sets were made from a lighter wood which has never been positively identified. It is usually referred to as “fruitwood” but in fact we don’t know what wood it is - “fruitwood” is a term that can be used to refer to various nut woods and other native species.
Bill
Stamped Egan, c 1770 early uilleann pipes made from African blackwood, stock probably walnut, pitched baroque pitch D, which equates to C# in modern pitch, posting ammended 19.43 Oct 24 2007.
http://www.bagpipeworks.co.uk/archives%20e.htm
DDS.
Below is a real piece of working history, A full set of J Egan senior c1765
lovingly restored by Peter Hunter over several years, pitched in narrow bore D
chanter, with hollow drone stock tied straight into the bag, she has hollow screw on mounts
and a single tenor regulator.
Man and all this time I believed that guy Royce when he said narrow bore D was a modern invention/abomination 
Davy, any info on the screw-on mounts? Similar in design to modern GHB threaded mounts??? I’ve heard before that longevity could be a problem, due to the slightly greater clearance compared to glued mounts, but these seem to have lasted 240 years.
Stamped Egan, c 1770 early uilleann pipes made from African blackwood, stock probably walnut, pitched baroque pitch D, which equates to C# in modern pitch, posting ammended 19.43 Oct 24 2007.
No one’s ever had the chutzpah or the curiousity to shave off just enough for a DNA test?
Unfortunately as far as I know the DNA of most wood species hasn’t been sequenced sufficiently to allow for that. Positive identification requires microscopic analysis of sections of “clean” wood. True, only a small sliver would be required, but an end grain section would be required. Perhaps someone will find the end of an already-chopped Coyne chanter and a thin section can be shaved off. Of course you need a very skilled wood identification specialist to tell the difference between some of these species, as well..
Bill
Hmmm What species of tree do I get chutzpah wood from??? 
Bob
and of course for the rich customers the renowned creamy ‘wood’ that takes a beautiful finish from the elephant tree 
I’d guess olive.
Hi Pipers !
Nobody has mentioned Greenhart or Green Heart wood which is
a type native to Ireland ? Or am I mis-informed, as usual ?
Matt Keirnan used that wood for many of his Chanters and Half sets.
Hornbeam wood that Julian Goodacre uses, is a native or no…?
There’s a wood they use for Zampognas in Sicily, which is Ellica
or Erica wood, also called “Heather wood” (Ted Anderson, help me here!)
and the aged wood of my Ciaramedda, has that same Yellowy / light brown color, that I’ve seen on some old sets ( and Chanters) of Irish Pipes.
I wonder if THAT’s the “Mystery” wood that’s mentioned here ?
Sean “woody” Folsom
The root burl of Erica arborea is the standard wood for smoking pipes. It was only settled on as the timber for that purpose after hundreds of years of unsuccessful attempts at using elm, boxwood, etc. Mostly a Mediterranean wood, and not used much for smoking pipes until the later 19th century - before that it was clay pipes (in Irish, dudeen, which as Sean says is related to the bagpipe names dudy, dudelsack, etc.), meerschaum (a mineral), etc., so I’m not sure why it would be imported to the British Isles when the old sets were made. But who knows?
Laburnum was mentioned, that’s pretty hard stuff. I remember reading it was used for Highland pipes sometimes.
I think something like these woods might not be far away, Boxwood, Labernum, Fruit woods = pear, plum, Damson. Rosewood, Blackwood,Ebony.
all the best. 
Sorry Sean, as for Greenheart, you are indeed misinformed. Greenheart is a dense, hard and heavy timber from northern South America, notably Guayana and Suriname. It is resistant to sea water and, being slightly toxic, also to worms and piddocks, and is therefore being used for under-water construction. Matt Kiernan got hold of poles from the harbour that had been in the water for many years and were being replaced, and he decided the wood might be suitable for pipes. He certainly was right. Btw, Matt also made chanters from old policemens’s clubs which were from some kind of tropical hardwood, before they were replaced by ebonite.
Hornbeam is one of the hardest woods native to northern Europe. It was favoured by the wheelwrights of days gone-by, particularly for hubs due to its restistancy to wear from friction. It was also used for wooden gears in mills, for carpenters’ planes, axe handles and wooden hammers.
Concerning the heather wood, I don’t know very much but I’m quite sure that the types that grow in Ireland don’t reach the dimensions required for pipemaking. The root burr of Erica arborea or Bruyère which has been mentioned can grow to a very impressing size but usually has holes and cavities in the inside, and ingrown stones are found frequently, so you’d have to be very lucky to find a piece of the appropriate size for a chanter, and still take the risk of being shot by a stone when turning the wood… .
Another group of timbers which can be classified as “local fruitwood” are the Sorbus spp, the most widespread being the rowan tree. A related species, Cormier (S. domestica) is the favourite wood for French bagpipes. Another one, Servicewood (S. torminalis) is used by some German bagpipemakers, although usually not for Uilleann pipes.
In Bulgaria, the timber No. 1 for woodwinds is cornel tree (cornelian cherry, dogwood, Cornus mas). In a very old book on woodturning I found it referred to as “European ebony”. I’m not sure if this tree is found in Ireland (it is rare in Germany, and doesn’t grow very big here), but if so, I’d be surprised if the old pipemakers would not have used it, it is very hard and stable, and the core of of the wood is dark and takes a good surface polish, almost like the tropical woods.
It is really true as Matt himself told the story. The wood was Greenhart as well. Today they seem to be made of “Low Quality Imitation Ivory”.
The peace-movements´ motto (here) is “swords to ploughshares”.
Matt Kiernan´s motto seems to have been “police clubs to Uilleann Pipes”.