PIPES

As some who dabbles in instrument repair and construction I was lucky enough to recently come across an old set of Irish Uilleann pipes. After much research and discussion with leading pipe experts around the world, some pieces of the pipes were traced back to the workshop of Richard O'Mealy, a Belfast based piper who was prolific from around 1900.

 

 O'Mealy was quite an important maker and piper, with a very distinct style, and as a 'Northerner' I was already familiar with his work. There is a video of him playing here, from the film The Devil's Rock.

 

 On a trip home in March I stopped over in Belfast, staying in my sister's house near the Ulster Museum. Here, I tracked down O'Mealy's old workshop, being only a few streets away.

 

 Nowadays, it's probably occupied with  students. Still, it was pretty exciting to track down the possible origin of my 100 year old pipes.