Uilleann pipes

The Last of the Traveling Pipers - the uilleann piping of Felix Doran

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• published: 19 Oct 2015
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1. Mary of Murroe | The Green Gates 2. The Dear Irish Boy | The Primrose Lass 3. Rakish Paddy 4. Rolandstown Churchyard 5. The Ash Plant 6. The Lark in the Morning ===================== 7. The Fox Hunt 8. George White's Favourite | The Ivy Leaf 9. The Coolin 10. The Boys of the Lough 11. The Pigeon on the Gate | Miss Monaghan The following is taken from Sean Reid's liner notes on the Topic LP, "The last of the traveling pipers" / Felix Doran. Topic: 12T288, p 1976 Biographical notes: This short account of the personal recollections of one man can be no substitue for proper biographies of both Felix ans his brother Johnny which should now be compiled as a matter of urgency. They were the last of a great and illustrious line of travelling pipers, and the end of an era; it is unlikely that we shall ever see their likes again. Felix was a great-grandson of John Cash of Wexford (b. 1832) who maintained the standard of piping in south Leinster and the Midlands for over 50 years in the latter half if the nineteenth century. I lived in Dublin for a year in 1934-35 and followed Felix around Moore Street enchanted by his piping. I recall him vividly as he was then - a handsome, well built young fellow of 18 or 20 in a blue, double-breasted suit, very clean and tidy and wearing in his coat lapel the badge of the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association. I was living in Ennis, County Clare when in the course of his journeyings around Ireland he turned up there in 1938. I had now a pipes of my own and Felix was a frequent and welcome visitor at my home. Living in a comfortable horse drawn caravan with his pretty young wife and a few small children he plied his business of horse-dealing and general trading while playing the pipes at fairs, markets and country dances all over the country. He was a pleasant-mannered, cheery young man who talked freely about himself and his life and adventures. He was gifted with a vivid imagination and never thought it any harm to improve a good story! I was able to supply him with a few good Rowsome chanter reeds from time to time. He moved on again after a few months and the next time we met was at the Galway Races in 1944. He looked bronzed, relaxed and happy as, surrounded by an appreciative and generous audience, he filled sun-lit Eyre Square with the thrilling sound of his pipes. He returned again to Clare for the last time in the late autumn of 1950 and this time he had a large, white Austin van and was collecting old car-batteries and also old feather matresses (ticks) which, he explained, were to be used in the manufacture of pound notes. He always had a good head for business and habitually kept a 50 pound note in his pocket. By this time he was coming up in the world and beginning to fill out and put on a little wieght while his handsome leonine head and face was becoming more and more reminiscent of his famous great-grandfather, John Cash. Unfortunately he had also become an alcoholic and was going on periodic bouts of heavy drinking which had an disastrous effect on his normally pleasant temperament. On one memorable occasion we (the Tulla Ceili Band, with Joe Cooley) brought him along to a dance at Kilkee where he brought the house down with "The fox chase". After a few weeks he moved on again. The next time I saw him he was in his coffin. In 1963 he won first prize on the pipes at Fleadh Ceoil na hEirean in Mullingar. subsequently he settled down in Manchester where he became a wealthy haulage contracter with a great fleet of lorries. He engaged a skilled German mechanic to fashion him an all-silver pipes, a marvel of craftsmanship that must have cost a small fortune. In the middle 60's he was recorded and broadcast repeatedly on television and radio. He died in 1972 in Manchester ( Felix actually passed away in Grimsby, see Brian Kernan's notes below) after a long illness and his funeral cortege from Dublin to Wicklow was the largest I ever saw, with the possible exception of Leo Rowsome's and Willie Clancy's. He was buried in Rathnew graveyard, sone distance from Johnny. Two pipers, one of them his son, Michael, the other Nial Mulligan, played at his graveside. I estimated the pile of wreaths as being 9 feet long, 6 feet wide and four feet high. He was present at the last Fleadh Ceoil na hEireann before his death. If tributes count for anything then Felix died the uncrowned king of the travelling people. during his too short lifetime he gave a tremendous lift ot Irish music, and especially to the uilleann pipes. He had something unique to contribute and is assured of a permanent and honourable place in the annals of Irish minstrels and musicians. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam (May his soul be at God's right hand). Sean Reid, Ennis. 5 May 1976