TWO prestigious Irish pipe bands will come together this year to celebrate 150 years of the tradition in Mayo and Manchester.
Achill Island’s Dooagh Pipe Band in Mayo and Manchester’s award-winning Fianna Phadraig Pipe Band are joining forces to take part in the Home to Mayo Festival 2022.
Both bands are celebrating their 75th anniversaries this year.
To mark their impressive milestones, they have decided to stage a special joint celebration during the afternoon event on Sunday, May 29 as part of the week-long Home to Mayo Tradfest, which runs from May 26 to May 31, and is supportedby Mayo County Council.
The Tradfest will be touring Mayo during that time, staging events in Attymass, Ballina, Castlebar, Cong, Ashford Castle, Achill Island and Westport.
Manchester's Fianna Phadraig Pipe band is the UK’s longest-running pipe bandTony Hennigan, from the Mayo Manchester Tradfest, which is organising the event, confirmed the event this week.
“We are delighted to be returning to Achill to stage this unique event to celebrate 150 years of Irish piping in Mayo and Manchester,” he said.
“It is just one of the action-packed events of our week-long festival of traditional Irish music, song and dance.”
The Manchester-based Fianna Phadraig Pipe band is the UK’s longest-running pipe band. The group has been a key part of the annual Mayo Manchester Tradfest, which has won numerous awards since it began in 2013.
The band is currently planning one of Europe’s largest pipe band events - the United Pipers for Peace, which will take place in Manchester in September.
They will also feature in a festival in France this year, in front of a crowd of 60,000 people, and hope to take part in New York’s St Patrick’s Day Parade and a tour of America in 2023 as part of their 75th Anniversary celebrations.
Based in Mayo, the St Patrick’s Pipe Band was established in the village of Dooagh on the western shores of Achill Island, Co. Mayo in 1947.
It had a membership of 11.
However, the roots of the pipe band delve much deeper than just the past 75 years, with the original band in the village - the Dooagh Fife and Drum band formed in 1882.
The Fianna Phadraig Pipe Band pictured more recently at Ashford Castle in MayoThe Fife band played a significant role and provided moral support with their music, throughout pivotal times in Irish history, such as the times of Michael Davitt’s Land League and the struggle for Irish independence during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Today the St. Patrick’s Day celebration in Achill is perhaps the most unique celebration in Ireland, with no less than five pipe bands marching from early morning to late in the evening.
With 2022 marking the band’s 75th year, they have a series of events to celebrate which will kick off on St Patrick’s Day.
For more information about the Home to Mayo Tradfest festival and how to get involved in it email [email protected] or click here.
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