My list ; Paddy Moloney , P . Keenan , Ronan Browne , Elliot Grasso , Davy Spillane , Joe Mckenna , Liam O’ Flynn , Robbie Hannon .
tok . :roll:
What do you mean! the best eight, hears the best five, 
Davey Spillane, Ronan Browne, Sean Potts, Tommy Keane, Liam O’Flynn
Style Rules~Speed only Fools. 
Add Brian McNamara to that list…
Yes stew , you are right . It is easy on the ear to really listen to a style , though , It is nice to have the music fast as , In my opinion that sounds good too .
tok . 
The best 8 living pipers? I couldn’t say
Who do I like the sound of? in no particular order,
Jimmy O’Brien Moran
Liam O’Flynn
Cillian Vallely
John McSherry
Mick O’Brien
Dicky Deegan
Paddy Keenan
OK, thats seven, I hope they’re all living 
Cheers, Mac
Some additional candidates for consideration not already mentioned:
Jerry O’Sullivan
Ivan Goff**
** (though I would urge him to record so to increase appreciation for his artistry more universally)
Neil
Eight? 
Yes,that’s what I thought too-why not the ‘magnificent seven’, ‘The famous five’,‘the fantastic four’, ‘The three Musketeers’ (how’d they get in there?-o.k. Kev,you’ve made your point 
My list of living legends;
Ronan Browne
Robbie Hannon
Sean Og Potts
Brian MacNamara
Finbar Furey
Benedict Koehler is on my list. As are Neillidh Mulligan, Kevin Rowsome, Liam O’Flynn, and Brian McNamara. There are, of course, plenty of excellent pipers out there worthy of mention. The question posed begs for mention of a great number of people depending on the ones providing the answer. Me, I prefer the melodic, reasonably paced, plaintive, and lyrical styles emphasized and exemplified by those above.
Who’s list includes
Rigler… Dillon… Denman… ??
I may be making an obvious statement here - but what are these opinions based upon? My assumption is recordings and lessons/concerts and such at tionols (every name on anyone’s list so far is undoubtedly a brilliant musician). So it won’t surprise you to recognise the fact that there are players in Ireland who you’ve never heard of. Not to be argumentative, but just to lament the fact that we may never hear of these foks and what a pity that is. I’m sure if you spoke to some locals in Clare and other counties, there’d be that ol’ timer who is nothing short of fascinating. Has anyone run into people like this? I’d absolutely love to know 
Very good point there Paul.It was something that crossed my mind when I compiled my own list.
There are probably lots of excellent musicians out there who will never be heard,except by people living in their own locality.
Mine are definitely:
Mick O’Brien
Brendan Ring
Dicky Deegan
Ronan Browne
Kevin Rowsome
Evertjan ‘t Hart
Davy Spillane
Hey tok, why 8? You’re not missing any appendages are you (or a few extra?) 
Seriously, all the above are fantastic but Paul Reid’s comment caught my mind about little known pipers. I actually was thinking along this line a few weeks ago when I mentioned Tom Creegan http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=11983 and I might bring it back in case anyone has been gone.
Ok , nine best pipers , I wanted to add Tom Kreegan to my list . I still have all my fingers and toes , though I did nick my finger in a deli meat slicer years ago , I must have been thinking of pipes , or mabey it was that waitress , 
.
tok .
Might as well throw in my 2 cents…
I could certainly think of many more, but I think I’ll keep my list of favorites narrowed down to five. Here they are in no particular order:
Paddy Keenan
Robbie Hannan
Gay McKeown
Fred Morrison**
Eoin O Riabhaigh
**Note: To those unfortunate souls who have never heard of him, Fred Morrison is the most talented human being ever to inflate air into a bag (and that, in my opinion, is a fact). He is mostly known for playing Highland & Border pipes and his downright vicious playing style is guaranteed to leave even the most smart-alecky GHP-detractor standing in a puddle. He is also a brilliant uilleann piper (learned some tips and tricks from Paddy Keenan and Pat Broderick). Check out his amazing solo outings on the albums “The Sound of the Sun” and “Up South.”
Tim Britton (yeah, his style is really out but what he does with it…)
Although I am a bit new and I haven’t heard all the pipers mentioned, my list includes…
Davy Spillane
Eamonn Dillon
John McSherry
Paddy Keenan
Jerry O’Sullivan
Keiran O’Hare
Michael McGoldrick
BTW the John McSherry and Michael McGoldrick CD is one of the best CDs I own. Period
Timmy
Tok,
I have no problems with Reels or Jigs being played with a bit of
pace, but Hey,some players play them so fast, that it just get’s
on my T–s! to me it just spoils the tune but thats me.
I just have to add one name:
Tommy Reck! (yeah, I know, 
but he lives on in spirit and the few but glorious recordings we have of him).
No E
I don’t know about greatest living pipers, but these are my favorites and I spend a lot of time listening to them.
Ronan Browne
Jimmy O’Brien-Moran
Mick O’Brien
Brian MacNamara
Paddy Keenan
Liam O’Flynn
Tommy Keane