![]() ![]() ![]() Patrick’s Day in what they insist is true Irish tradition: playing uilleann bagpipes, the smaller, quieter and more versatile cousin of the better known Highland bagpipes. The club is part of a small but dedicated cadre of musicians who will celebrate St. Rude? Brazen? At the very least, out of order?Īctually, it was business as usual at the monthly meetings, which inevitably turn into jam sessions. Their performance should not only remind us of the hero we lost, but of the immigrants who laid their lives down for a country they had just joined.The Great Northern Irish Pipers Club was in the midst of a discussion when one of the members picked up his bagpipes and started playing a spirited jig. They can be seen wearing the traditional Scottish or Irish kilts or just a simple Irish uniform. ![]() One of their honorable jobs is to serve as the pipers at firefighter and police funerals. Started in New York, they now have over 7,500 members around the country. In true Irish tradition, it was founded on St. The Emerald Society is a group of Irish public safety officers with the main goal of protecting Irish firefighter traditions, as well as keeping the culture alive in other areas of public safety. A group of Scots Guards adapted the hymn to bagpipes when they toured America in the 1970s. “ Amazing Grace” is now a popular hymn for firefighter funerals, but it’s not considered traditional. The answer to why the Great Highland bagpipes are used over the traditional Irish uilleann pipes is easy – they’re a lot louder when playing the traditional hymns such as " Flowers of the Forest" and " Lament for Children." The tradition soon became engrained in our society as the melancholy soundtrack to the funerals of our fallen heroes. One source suggests that the somber Irish music also served as a reminder to those who rejected that the Irish were protecting the community – and dying in the process.Įventually, the families of firefighters who were not Irish asked that the bagpipes also be played at their funerals. The families of the fallen firefighter immigrants would pull out all of the traditional stops when one of their own was killed as they would have if they were in Ireland. And because the firefighting industry was heavily saturated with Irish immigrants, an Irish firefighter funeral was a normal occurrence. One of those happened to be the playing of bagpipes at weddings, dances and funerals.Īt the time, on-duty deaths were commonplace for firefighters. Irish firefighter funeralsĪlong with their other belongings, the Irish brought their deep-rooted Celtic traditions with them. To put it frankly, Irish immigrants were able to apply for these positions because of the extreme dangers and the high death toll. Oddly enough, some of the only jobs that were easily accessible to the new Americans were the ones that we consider heroic today – firefighters and police officers. Factories and shopkeepers even posted signs reading “NINA,” or “No Irish Need Apply.” The discrimination against the Irish made it hard for the immigrants to find work. Irish immigrationĪfter the Great Potato Famine of the 1840s, Irish immigrants flooded to the U.S. Turns out, it all started over 170 years ago with the Great Potato Famine. Bagpipe player Glen Thompson looks on as police and firefighters gather to remember the moment the first plane struck the World Trade Center. ![]()
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