How old are the Uilleann pipes?
Native to Ireland, Uilleann pipes date back almost 300 years to the beginning of the 18th century and probably share some common ancestry with Scots lowland pipes and other bellows blown pipes of the region. The design of the pipes as we know them today, with three drones and three regulators, stabilized around the start of the 19th century. Yet they nearly became extinct, and were saved by the efforts of the Taylor brothers and Captain Francis O’Neill in Chicago in the early 20th century, and later in Ireland by Leo Rowsome, Séamus Ennis, Johnny Doran and Willie Chancy, and others who helped promote the instrument up through the 1960s. Today Uilleann pipes are enjoying a continued revival in Ireland, North America and Europe and are more popular than ever, yet they remain extremely rare when compared to other instruments. Are they loud? No. Uilleann pipes are normally no louder than a fiddle or accordion and sometimes much quieter, depending on the pitch, the style of the player (how
