A little bit of history
The 1940’s were bleak times in Ireland. War and Famine meant a depressed economy, meagre wages and scant work opportunities. Along the Western Seaboard, large families and poor land led to a very frugal existence. The combination of Irishness and inventiveness meant that the people “made the best of it”. The Young people of Dookinella , River and surrounding villages are a perfect example. In pursuit of recreation, they would gather together of a Summer’s evening at River bridge to play music and dance.
The Onset of winter meant the Revellers had to repair indoors. Refuge was provided in Gielty’s house, beside the Dookinella school. So the house dancing began. Admission was six pence (6d). Accordion music was provided by Michael Gallagher and John Gielty. Illumination came from a bulb that had been washed ashore with power supplied by an old car battery.
It was the Proceeds from those house-dances that led to the formation of the Memorial Dookinella Pipe Band.
The band was named after a local Priest Fr. Manus Sweeney who was born in 1763 in a house in Dookinella Sandybanks, known locally as "Teach Dhonnacha".
His memorial now stands in it's place. He was hanged on the 8th June, 1799 in Newport for his part in assisting the French in the 1798 Rebellion.
THE MEMBERS OF THE ORIGINAL PIPE BAND WERE,
Pipers: John Fadian, Farrell Gallagher, Michael Gallagher, John Gielty.
Side Drums: Hughie Gallagher, Joe Fadian.
Bass Drums: Michael Lavelle.
How well they must have looked! Their sparse uniforms of something old (caps courtesy of Dooagh flute band). Something new ( Pipes from Crowley’s of Cork, £15 a set ). Something borrowed (green, white and yellow tape sewn on the lapels of their jackets and legs of their trousers by local girls in Farrell Gallaghers (Crossroads Inn). Something blue ( well the cold crisp air of a St Patrick’s Day morning 1948 probably added a bluish tint to their otherwise hardy complexions!!).
This was their first public display. The new band set forth from the Dookinella beach to the Church of the Assumption. Their confidence was not to be diminished by the horses grazing on the Sandybanks, when hearing the first notes stampeded away, to be found later near Achill Head.
Onward they marched and played, no doubt accompanied by curious children and onlookers ( and the inevitable Dookinella and River dogs!!) They planned to arrive at the church for 11.00am mass.
The Repertoire that day included, “The Pipers Cave”.”The Wearing of the Green”, “Scotland the Brave”, St Patrick’s Day, “Faith of our Fathers” and “The White Cockade”.
The archaic licensing laws of those times meant that public houses did not open for business on St Patrick’s Day 1948. This meant the weary pipers had to shake their thirst with two barrels of Stout bought at the Crossroads Inn” and consumed with realish in Michael Gallagher’s house.
Encouraged by the enthusiastic reception, fundraising began with more house dancing. During Lent and Advent when innocent pursuit was forbidden, the staging of plays in Mulligan's Hall provided further income.
The emigrants from the areas also played their part. Stories of fundraising in places like Preston, Ormskirk and Southport are legion. The first notes of the Dookinella Pipe Band were played on St Patrick's Day 1948. In 2008 the pipe band celebrates it’s Diamond Jubilee and plays on a vibrant sixty years old. In the years since 1948 there have been many band members continuing a proud Irish musical tradition of pipe playing which is now handing down through the generations.
There have also been many “silent players” the men and women who may have never played note yet spent countless hours fundraising, making tea, preparing meals, providing transport, sewing, polishing, plucking shamrock and generally getting the show on the road.
To all players and non players, let's tune up for the next sixty years!
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