Matt Keirnan’s name comes up occasionally but he passed away in the 80’s so who is the current favourite - some seem to have learnt with Peter Hunter but thats only takes care a maybe three names - who else is passing on their knowledge.
Seth Gallagher has a few who work/worked/apprenticed with him, I’m sure they could have the skills.
A couple have done apprenticeships with Geoff Woof, Mickey Dunne learned from Cillian O’Briain. Neil O’Grady learned from Bruce Childress (when BC was still newer at it though), CJ Dixon’s stuff reminds me a lot of BC’s work now, so he may have done the same.
Plenty of good pipemakers didn’t have someone to teach them though, learning back when it was hard to find anyone who could make them much less teach the art. Geoff Woof, Kirk Lynch, Tim Britton, and more I’m sure didn’t have a pipemaking teacher per se…
Ted Colgan/Brendean Breathnach/Peter Hunter/Davy Stephenson/Sam Laurence/Jim Carroll/Makoto Nakatsui/Wayne Paddon/Luke Carroll Jnr/unbroken chain of events.
Davy, what year span was Colgan active? I didn’t realize Breathnach made pipes too, that’s a great lineage. Is Ted Colgan the same Colgan that made the set that Jimmy O’Brien-Moran plays?
Today’s Ted Colgan was helping Peter in the mid to late seventies, even though Brendean never actually made pipes, he was one of the main influences during Peter’s early days in showing him how things should be done, Ted did make some very nice pipes and showed Peter how to take the old sets apart, what Peter learned and saw back then has been carried forward unto this day.
The Colgan who made J O B M’s pipes was from the early 19th century about the 1830’s, I think and is not related to today’s Colgan from Dublin.
This was amongst others, one of the most important linages to have come about, because it gave them all the acsess to some of the best old sets, which were very hard to come by or to even borrow/look over back then, a very import time indeed.
This is what we are all trying to carry forward, the techniques of how to make pipes the ways the old ones were made, by hand rolled/stitched
etc, and lets not leave out our member Billh, he also has a vast knowledge of everything Uilleann, I don’t know if he has ever had anyone under his tutillage, maybe if he is reading this he can tell us.
DDS.
It’s great that we have maker’s who are working off the old sets and ways of doing things. A shame for me that I live here though! I’m harboring a desire to work with instruments (career change that would be subsidized by my GF being a doctor!) but it seems that the best opportunities for this, at least for one who wants to learn in this manner, lie across the pond.. 
Your GF being a doctor? What’s a GF? 
Do you mean a medical doctor?
It’s a colloqial abbreviation for girlfriend…, but yep, medical doctor. She’s all about being the breadwinner and living vicariously through a struggling artisan. Mainly because she decided to be ambitious instead of being a full-time potter…sounds like a perfect compliment to pipemaking huh? 
But, to get things back on track, are there any North American makers that people know of who actively take apprentices like Davy does? I’m sure this sort of thing is not common in the UP making world. It’s hard enough to make a living making instruments these days, not like the old days where it was actually beneficial to have an apprentice or student.
There’s an Egan set in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
Incidently, I see that Benedict Koehler is giving a talk on the uilleann pipes on December 3 in Boston. Here’s a link:
Heheh…I like how the caption attributes the set to “John Egan” and the blurb has the correct name.
I don’t know how Davey does it, but Seth Gallagher in NY has taken people on. Tim Britton also had (has?) an apprentice. I don’t know if experience in instrument making was a prerequesite. You should contact them and ask.
There was also a pipemaker called John Egan. Have a look at O’Neill’s IMM (courtesy of Bill Haneman):
Good idea, I’d thought that Seth had taken employees on rather than apprenticeship type stuff, but I do know that Nathaniel Banton had basically no experience and in his words talked his way into a job at Seth’s shop. Worth looking into anyway…
Thanks Davy for those kind words.
I have given a couple of people an introduction to the lathe and rudiments of pipemaking - for now they will remain nameless, but I certainly hope that they will pursue the subject for their own edification and enjoyment even if not for the benefit of other pipers. I think there are lots of good pipers out there with a keen interest in pipemaking, who, given access to the right tools and a bit of encouragement, are ready to turn out a chanter or two.
At this point in time I think we are all learning from each other… with a few exceptions such as have already been mentioned, the master/apprentice relationship probably doesn’t describe what’s going on in many cases.
That isn’t to say that there are no masters today - though there has certainly not been an unbroken chain from the master union pipemakers of the 19th century or even from 20th century masters like Willie and Leo Rowsome, or Richard O’Mealy. Today’s masters are still recapturing knowledge that has been lost, as well as reinventing new ways of doing the diverse tasks required to make a set of pipes.
It’s also true that the modern age doesn’t really support apprenticeships of the old type - where seven years apprenticeship led to another seven years’ labor before a tradesman became a Journeyman. (Perhaps this is where Seamus got his famous 7+7+7 formula). Few people can even afford fulltime tuition of a year or two in preparation for working on their own.
For my part, I have been very fortunate to have benefited from the patience and goodwill of many makers and players; through their generosity I have engaged in long discussions, both in person and long-distance, and had the opportunity to examine and play many exceptional instruments. No amount of shop skill can substitute for that, but all the same, many people have pointed me to helpful written works on relevant topics, when they exist. In particular I owe much to Craig Fischer, with whom I had many theoretical discussions; to my friend David Quinn who has been generous, supportive, and didactic; and to John Hughes who has helped in ways both practical and inspirational. Other than a few hours with David Quinn, the only other person whom I have ever seen making a set of pipes is Martin Preshaw, who sold me my lathe and made it all seem accessible and down-to-earth by showing me how he bored and turned a chanter. I aim to pass that favor on, along with many others, skill permitting. While it’s true that I’ve been smitten with the pipes for a good long while, as a maker I am still pretty new to the fold and I am humbled by this instrument and its difficulties on almost a daily basis.
The most valuable thing anyone ever gave me was encouragement, and I have gratefully received that from virtually every member of my personal list of “greatest living pipers”. I won’t embarass them or myself by naming them here, but their enthusiasm for the instrument is, in my opinion, what will keep the art alive in an age where multidisciplinary craftsmen are few and far between.
Best regards,
Bill
Has she got any like-minded friends?
Not as I can tell! Like-minded in being ok w/ struggling artisans but none of them have the same earning potential..sorry! 
Its a great shame that the greatest living pipemaker ,Alain Froment does not seem willing to share any of his knowledge which must be vast and would be extreamly important considering the quality of the sets he makes
.He has turned down many applications to take on an apprentice and I haven,t heard that he has written any articles on pipemaking as other makers have done .
RORY
the greatest living pipemaker ,Alain Froment
I don’t think you can say things like this - plenty of makers turning out very good pipes that are as good if not better eg Geof W or A Rogge or a host of other makers.
He has turned down many applications to take on an apprentice
That’s because having an apprentice is a pain in the arse. Who would like to be slowed down and make less money when you’re already making bugger-all? I don’t blame him at all, and thinking about it makes me glad for the knowledge I have received with no thought of reward other than trying to spread the know-how around. Thanks helpful pipemakers, especially ones beginning with a P. And D and B too.
Anyone who doesn’t like tangents and wry humour stop reading now.
“greatest living pipemaker” - if I were you Alain, I’d make sure my life insurance was up to date, the second greatest pipemaker might be planning to bomp ye off and take their place at the top of the “league table of pipemaking”! What would points be awarded for?
“For late delivery of a flat set, West Bromich Albion have been deducted 2 points”
“The match between Bill H and Seth G has been postponed due to a dog on the pitch. The pools panel (weird english thing to do with competitive sports and betting) has decided on a score draw”
which is incidentally something I used to do as a student in dodgy bits of Manchester. In fact I was on my way home from a famous pipemaker’s house with a large bag of weed under the passenger seat of my untaxed, uninsured, un-mot’d car when the little red bint packed up on the hard shoulder of the M62. I had two fellow students in the car, one of whom had the FEAR and one of whom thought by this point that everything was hysterically funny.
All homebrew-tinged rambling aside, please there’s enough competitiveness in life as it is. Why not just refer to everyone else as “not the worlds best pipemaker”. Anyone remember “second best priest, second best priest, second best priest”?
Putting aside the seperate debate over whom is the greatest living pipemaker, Alain has always stated his willingness to take on an apprentice. However, he insists that any apprentice that he invests in be properly and classicly trained, including studying engineering at university. This last issue has been the primary reason why he is not willing to take on just anybody. I believe that he has been dissatisified in the past with results of apprentices that haven’t properly educated themselves in this regard. However, since moving back to France, he has agreed with a family to take on their son as an apprentice and assist in his engineering studies as well. So, it does sound like Alain may have finally found the next generation to replace his own skills. We shall have to judge for our selves in 10 or 15 years or so.
Neil