amazing the things you learn on Wikipedia, for example :
The earliest surviving sets of uilleann pipes date from the second half of the 18th century but it must be said that datings are not definitive. Only recently has scientific attention begun to be paid to the instrument and problems relating to various stages of its development have yet to be resolved. It is gradually becomming accepted that the union pipes originated from the Pastoral pipes and gained popularity in Ireland within the protestant Anglo-Irish community and its gentlemen pipers. Certainly many of the early players in Ireland were protestant, possibly the best known being the mid-18th century piper Jackson from Co Limerick and the 18th century Tandragee pipemaker William Kennedy. The pipes were certainly frequently used by the protestent clergy who employed them as an alternative to the the church organ. As late as the 19th century the instrument was still commonly associated with the Anglo-Irish e.g. the Anglican clergyman Canon James Goodman (1828-1896) from Kerry, who interestingly had his uilleann pipes buried with him at Creagh (Church of Ireland) cemetery near Baltimore, County Cork. His friend, and Trinity College colleague, John Hingston from Skibbereen also played the uilleann pipes.
