Na Píobairí Uilleann

[ThomasJ]

Coyne took over Kenna's workshop but what happened to Coyne's (Kenna's) workshop and equipment after Coyne's demise?

Does Leo Rowsome's family have Leo's pipemaking equipment?

[JosephO]

It's a pity that no one has replied so far with any info.It is sad to think that such a magic workshop might have been lost to ignorance and decay.

[WilliamH]

When you consider the conditions under which they were working, and the events of the ensuing century, it's a wonder we know anything about these makers at all. Many of those records that did exist - spotty as they were - perished in the fires and shelling throughout Dublin in 1916. Not to mention the Famine and emigration...

For instance, it appears that the only contemporary reference to the mid-19th-century Dublin "Coyne" as "Maurice" may be one quote attributed to Michael Egan, reported in O'Neill's Irish Minstrels and Musicians (1913). [ http://billhaneman.ie/IMM/IMM-XVI.html or search IMM on this website]

Seán Donnelly is the man who has done the most research into Kenna and Coyne, and he's uncovered most of what we now know, by reading old newspaper adverts and looking at the tax/business registers for the 1840s and '50s. Still, there's a large degree of speculation regarding where the workshop(s) were, and when. See for instance "A Century of Pipemaking: New Light on the Coynes and Kennas", in Seán Reid Society Journal v2.

The 'Uilleann Wiki' seems to have this information more-or-less right to the best of my recollection. Perhaps some of Seán Donnelly's findings regarding Dublin business records include the name 'Maurice', I am not sure... in recent conversation I thought he said the 149 Thomas Street address, formerly occupied by Kenna, was registered eventually to "John Coyne" (or was it John William Coyne?):

http://www.nwup.org/uiwiki/index.php/Coyne_(family)

It reports:

[JosephO]

Thanks for that info Bill.To my mind,the images of the old workshops just bring such a flow of sweet and bitter feelings.So sad what we treasure is so often not fully grasped while it lives.
Joe.

[iaincwil]

very interesting article on Coyne and Kenna, in 1982/3 myself and Peter Hunter measured a set of Harrington pipes which had a Coyne chanter which was pristine in that no attempt to alter the pitch which was B,
I myself made two coppies fromthese measurements one in boxwood and one in ebony both have recently changed owners,
there was some conjecture as to whether the ebony set was Kenna, Coyne or a clever copy they were both wrong it was Harrington body Coyne chanter
both sets I made were full sets, the boxwood set was seen at Betistown shortly after finishing it,
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[iaincwil]

very interesting article on Coyne and Kenna, in 1982/3 myself and Peter Hunter measured a set of Harrington pipes which had a Coyne chanter which was pristine in that no attempt to alter the pitch which was B,

I myself made two coppies from these measurements one in boxwood and one in ebony both have recently changed owners,
there was some conjecture as to whether the ebony set was Kenna, Coyne or a clever copy they were both wrong it was Harrington body Coyne chanter
both sets I made were full sets, the boxwood set was seen at Betistown shortly after finishing it ppictured in archive photo of group
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