St. Laurence O'Toole Pipe Band
Encyclopedia
The St. Laurence O'Toole Pipe Band is a Grade One pipe band
based in Dublin, Ireland
. The band was established in 1910. They are the current RSPBA World Pipe Band Champions.
It has been competing for many years and features regularly in the top six prize list at the major pipe band
championships including the European, British, Cowal, Scottish and World Championships
.
The band's Pipe Major
is Terry Tully and Pipe Sergeant
is Alen Tully. The lead drummer is Stephen Creighton.
The band plays David Chesney's Warnock chanters and reeds on a sheepskin and cane drone-reed setup. The drum corps plays Premier
HTS800 side drums and Professional Series Bass and Tenors.
The main mover in forming the band was Frank Cahill. Frank was for many years an Alderman of Dublin Corporation and later a member of the new Irish Parliament (Dáil Éireann). Amongst those present at the meeting were Pádraig Pearse, Thomas Clarke, Sean McDermott
, Arthur Griffith
, Douglas Hyde
(later to become the first President of Ireland
), and the famous Irish playwright Seán O'Casey
. The first President of the band was Thomas Clarke. The first Secretary of the band was Seán O'Casey. Casey acted in many plays staged by the St. Laurence O'Toole Dramatic Society to raise money for the band.
Michael Colgan (later a Senator) was the first Pipe Major.
In 1918, the headquarters in Seville Place, Dublin were acquired by the band. During the Irish War of Independence 1918-1922, the HQ was attacked by the military on numerous occasions.
Furnishings, fireplaces, etc. were ripped out and thrown out into the street.
During the Great Strike of 1913 in Dublin (wherein the Irish Trade Union movement had its origins) the band was set upon by mounted police in Lombard Street while leading a contingent of workers on a protest rally to Liberty Hall (Union HQ).
Some of the band members were injured and their instruments smashed.
The band took part at the funerals of many of the leaders of the nationalist movement of the time including Thomas Ashe, O'Donovan Rossa, Arthur Griffith and Michael Collins: the man who is credited with winning the War of Independence and with signing the treaty which established the then Irish Free State.
Following the War of Independence and the subsequent Civil War, the band ceased to have any political affiliations.
The St. Laurence O'Toole band was the first band to broadcast from the newly formed Radio Éireann in the 1930s when the station was known as 2 R.N. and one of the earliest Pipe Bands to ever broadcast in Scotland, this was when the band first visited the Cowal Games in Dunoon in 1925.A concert was held in conjunction with the games and was broadcast on the BBC Scottish Programme.
The St. Laurence O'Toole were also the first Irish band ever to visit England and America.
On the formation of the IPBA in the 1930s, the O'Toole's were one of the first bands to join and have been an integral part of that organisation ever since.
The St. Laurence O'Toole have taken part in many contests in Ireland and Scotland and at one time or another have won every major award for Piping and Drumming in Ireland.
In 1958, the band won the All Ireland Senior Championships and, in doing so, also won the Open Drumming prize.
The band was also successful in Scotland, taking two first prizes the same year.
The Pipe Major of the band at that time was John Duggan and the Drum Sergeant was Frank Saunders, Snr.
Other officials included James Fitzsimons, Johnny MacDonnell, Mick Lawless, Paddy MacDonnell, Frank Burns, Robert Kavanagh, Charles Stokes and Patrick Brady.
Following the heady days of the 1950s, the band began an unfortunate downward slide. Several members fell by the wayside due to commitments to the army and Pipe Major John Duggan resigned in 1967.
There was a further decline in membership and the band was not in a position to take part in competition.
No new Pipe Major was appointed for some time but whenever a public engagement was undertaken, Tommy Tully acted as Pipe Major. Eventually, Tommy was elected as Pipe Major.
Things got to such a dire state, however, that at one stage there were only four active members of the band left - Charlie Stokes, Seamus Casey, Tommy Tully,and Peter O'Rourke. These four men decided to make one last effort at reviving the band. Seamus Casey brought his sons Eamonn and Dominic down to learn the pipes (Dominic later changed to the drums and was drum sergeant in the band for many years). Tommy Tully brought along his sons Terry (now the almost legendary Pipe Major of the band and top class soloist) and Patrick.
New blood coming into the band gave a renewed interest to some of the older members and the band began to appear once again at contests.
During the period of decline the band had been regraded to Grade 3.
In 1974, the band won the All Ireland in Grade 3 and were subsequently up-graded to Grade 2.
Tommy Tully gradually gave over the reins to his son Terry.
At first, Terry just performed the role of band tuner while his father still called the shots. Eventually, he was to assume full control and bring the band on to become the top outfit in the Republic of Ireland.
Sadly, Tommy Tully died in April 1984. Tommy was well known in the Pipe Band world as a 'character' and enlivened many an IPBA meeting with his observations and comments.
In the introduction to his first book of tunes, Terry Tully cites his father Tommy as having been the major influence on his playing career: a great tribute indeed to a great stalwart of the Pipe Band scene in Ireland.
Seamus Casey also died in 1984. Seamus, despite his years, continued to attend band practices right up to the week before he died.
The pipers and drummers in the St. Laurence O'Toole didn't pick their dedication up off the ground as they say here.
The band celebrated its 75th Anniversary in 1985 and were to finish that year as Champion of Champions in Grade 2 in the IPBA. The trophy presented was, rather aptly, the Tommy Tully Memorial Trophy .
About this time, both Terry Tully and Ronan Maguire (who joined the band in 1985) began to feature in solo contests. To date, they have won several All Ireland Senior Solo Championships between them and many other competitions.
1985 saw the band beginning to travel up north again for some 'real' competition and gradually began to feature in the prize lists.
In 1986, John Keogh took over as Drum Sergeant from Dominic Casey who had done sterling work up to that point. The improvement continued in 1987 with the help of this addition/upgrading of the back ranks/drummers the previous year in the form of this dynamic solo drumming champion Johnny Keogh taking over and bringing along his snare-drummers Christy Ward (who was later to swap direct allegiance from Johnny to Terry by joining the pipe corps in the early 90s when they were established in Grade 1) and Mick & Jenny Landers together with Bass Drummer John Dunne (taught by the late Mickey Carroll of the old Grade 1 - during the 50s & 60s- Fintan Lalor pipe band also from Dublin), P/M Terry Tully's sister Karen, was the sixth snare-drummer to complete the new and improved drum corps. John Dunne is still the band's world champion bass drummer. The band took 6th prize at the European Championship in Stranraer that year and played all the way back to the Ferryport.
The band took prizes in 17 out of 17 contests and finished 2nd in the World Pipe Band Championships in Glasgow.
The band won thirteen out of fifteen contests outright including the Leinster, Ulster, All-Ireland and Scottish Championships.
The band also finished 3rd at the Cowal Championship in Dunoon.
One placing higher in Dunoon that year would have seen O'Toole's as Champion of Champions in Grade 2 in Scotland. One piping judge placed the pipe corps 1st, while the other piping judge had them 17th out of 22 bands.
In 1988, the band were again placed second at the Worlds and were subsequently upgraded to Grade 1.
Recognising the quality of their musical standard, the Irish government invited O'Toole's to the World Expo '92 in Seville, Spain along with such groups as The Chieftains. 1992 also saw the band gain a 4th prize at the Cowal Championships in Dunoon.
O'Toole's suffer from the same problem as many Irish bands - lack of players to compete at the highest level. The IPBA only has 50-60 pipe bands spread over 26 counties ( i.e. approx. 24,000 square miles). Players in the band sometimes have to make round trips of over 200 miles to practice, at their own expense. This is a logistics problem that is not easily solved.
The pipe corps have gone from strength to strength and the drum corp, now led by Stephen Creighton, are a real contender for major honours - they took the premier drumming prize at the All Ireland and became the first Republic of Ireland band since 1966 to do so.
They narrowly lost out on the All Ireland title once again to the Field Marshal Montgomery. The band won the medley, best bass and tenor and also the drum corp retained their crown from the previous season. The winner on the day was decided on MSR piping preference as both bands were tied on overall points.
The band also finished up 9th overall at the World Pipe Band Championships, winning the morning qualifying round with ease.
With a little more luck on the day the band could have finished in the overall prizes as they were 6th in the MSR in the final but too far down in the medley .
Not quite, but a very credible 6th prize was gained and the celebrations continued long into the night (and next morning!)
The band finished off the season at the Cowal Championships in Dunoon with a 3rd prize.
Next up, the All Ireland Solo Championships which again this proved very successful for the band players. Alen Tully and Stephen Creighton took both Senior Piping and Drumming,Stewart MacLeod took the Junior Piping and Conor Sherry finished joint 2nd in the Intermediate Drumming.
The band released its first CD in 2005 - The Dawning of the Day, a live recording of its performance at the “pre worlds concert” held in the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
, arguably the most important concert in the pipe band calendar.
The World Championships was bitter sweet for the band. The drum corps won the World Drumming Title for the first time becoming the first band from The Repbulic of Ireland ever to do so. However the band slipped out of the top six for the first time since 2003.
of Lisburn, Northern Ireland. They also gained top six placings in all five major championships throughout the year.
for the “pre worlds concert” this time entitled Evolution. The concert sold out for only the third time in its history. Most notably however, three days later the band won the most prestigious prize in the pipe band world, winning the World Pipe Band Championships
. It marked the first time in over 10 years that a band other than Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band, Simon Fraser University Pipe Band, or the House of Edgar Shotts and Dykehead won the title.
Pipe band
A pipe band is a musical ensemble consisting of pipers and drummers. The term used by military pipe bands, pipes and drums, is also common....
based in Dublin, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. The band was established in 1910. They are the current RSPBA World Pipe Band Champions.
It has been competing for many years and features regularly in the top six prize list at the major pipe band
Pipe band
A pipe band is a musical ensemble consisting of pipers and drummers. The term used by military pipe bands, pipes and drums, is also common....
championships including the European, British, Cowal, Scottish and World Championships
World Pipe Band Championships
The World Pipe Band Championships is a pipe band competition currently held in Glasgow, Scotland every August. The event has been operating regularly since 1930, when the Scottish Pipe Band Association was formed...
.
The band's Pipe Major
Pipe Major
The Pipe Major is the director of bagpipe music in a Scottish or Irish pipe band. Like Drum Major, the position of Pipe Major is derived from British Army traditions. During the early twentieth century, the term Sergeant Piper was used for the role in place of "Pipe Major".Civillian and military...
is Terry Tully and Pipe Sergeant
Pipe Sergeant
The Pipe Sergeant, commonly abbreviated as "P/Sgt", is the number two person in charge of the pipers in a Scottish pipe band or pipes and drums. In terms of seniority, the Pipe Sergeant is secondary only to the Pipe Major, who is the director of bagpipe music in a pipe band. A Pipe Sergeant...
is Alen Tully. The lead drummer is Stephen Creighton.
The band plays David Chesney's Warnock chanters and reeds on a sheepskin and cane drone-reed setup. The drum corps plays Premier
Premier Percussion
Premier Percussion Limited is an English manufacturer of drums and percussion instruments.The company was founded in 1922 as the Premier Drum Company by London drummer Albert Della Porta and drum builder George Smith...
HTS800 side drums and Professional Series Bass and Tenors.
Formation and Early History
In 1910 a meeting was organised by the St. Laurence O'Toole Gaelic Athletic Association Club in the CBS school, Seville Place, Dublin.The main mover in forming the band was Frank Cahill. Frank was for many years an Alderman of Dublin Corporation and later a member of the new Irish Parliament (Dáil Éireann). Amongst those present at the meeting were Pádraig Pearse, Thomas Clarke, Sean McDermott
Sean McDermott
Sean McDermott is an American football defensive coordinator for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League. He served as defensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles from 2009–2010, a position he took over shortly before his predecessor, Jim Johnson, died of cancer...
, Arthur Griffith
Arthur Griffith
Arthur Griffith was the founder and third leader of Sinn Féin. He served as President of Dáil Éireann from January to August 1922, and was head of the Irish delegation at the negotiations in London that produced the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921.-Early life:...
, Douglas Hyde
Douglas Hyde
Douglas Hyde , known as An Craoibhín Aoibhinn , was an Irish scholar of the Irish language who served as the first President of Ireland from 1938 to 1945...
(later to become the first President of Ireland
President of Ireland
The President of Ireland is the head of state of Ireland. The President is usually directly elected by the people for seven years, and can be elected for a maximum of two terms. The presidency is largely a ceremonial office, but the President does exercise certain limited powers with absolute...
), and the famous Irish playwright Seán O'Casey
Seán O'Casey
Seán O'Casey was an Irish dramatist and memoirist. A committed socialist, he was the first Irish playwright of note to write about the Dublin working classes.- Early life:...
. The first President of the band was Thomas Clarke. The first Secretary of the band was Seán O'Casey. Casey acted in many plays staged by the St. Laurence O'Toole Dramatic Society to raise money for the band.
Michael Colgan (later a Senator) was the first Pipe Major.
In 1918, the headquarters in Seville Place, Dublin were acquired by the band. During the Irish War of Independence 1918-1922, the HQ was attacked by the military on numerous occasions.
Furnishings, fireplaces, etc. were ripped out and thrown out into the street.
During the Great Strike of 1913 in Dublin (wherein the Irish Trade Union movement had its origins) the band was set upon by mounted police in Lombard Street while leading a contingent of workers on a protest rally to Liberty Hall (Union HQ).
Some of the band members were injured and their instruments smashed.
The band took part at the funerals of many of the leaders of the nationalist movement of the time including Thomas Ashe, O'Donovan Rossa, Arthur Griffith and Michael Collins: the man who is credited with winning the War of Independence and with signing the treaty which established the then Irish Free State.
Following the War of Independence and the subsequent Civil War, the band ceased to have any political affiliations.
The St. Laurence O'Toole band was the first band to broadcast from the newly formed Radio Éireann in the 1930s when the station was known as 2 R.N. and one of the earliest Pipe Bands to ever broadcast in Scotland, this was when the band first visited the Cowal Games in Dunoon in 1925.A concert was held in conjunction with the games and was broadcast on the BBC Scottish Programme.
The St. Laurence O'Toole were also the first Irish band ever to visit England and America.
On the formation of the IPBA in the 1930s, the O'Toole's were one of the first bands to join and have been an integral part of that organisation ever since.
The St. Laurence O'Toole have taken part in many contests in Ireland and Scotland and at one time or another have won every major award for Piping and Drumming in Ireland.
In 1958, the band won the All Ireland Senior Championships and, in doing so, also won the Open Drumming prize.
The band was also successful in Scotland, taking two first prizes the same year.
The Pipe Major of the band at that time was John Duggan and the Drum Sergeant was Frank Saunders, Snr.
Other officials included James Fitzsimons, Johnny MacDonnell, Mick Lawless, Paddy MacDonnell, Frank Burns, Robert Kavanagh, Charles Stokes and Patrick Brady.
Following the heady days of the 1950s, the band began an unfortunate downward slide. Several members fell by the wayside due to commitments to the army and Pipe Major John Duggan resigned in 1967.
There was a further decline in membership and the band was not in a position to take part in competition.
No new Pipe Major was appointed for some time but whenever a public engagement was undertaken, Tommy Tully acted as Pipe Major. Eventually, Tommy was elected as Pipe Major.
Things got to such a dire state, however, that at one stage there were only four active members of the band left - Charlie Stokes, Seamus Casey, Tommy Tully,and Peter O'Rourke. These four men decided to make one last effort at reviving the band. Seamus Casey brought his sons Eamonn and Dominic down to learn the pipes (Dominic later changed to the drums and was drum sergeant in the band for many years). Tommy Tully brought along his sons Terry (now the almost legendary Pipe Major of the band and top class soloist) and Patrick.
New blood coming into the band gave a renewed interest to some of the older members and the band began to appear once again at contests.
During the period of decline the band had been regraded to Grade 3.
In 1974, the band won the All Ireland in Grade 3 and were subsequently up-graded to Grade 2.
Tommy Tully gradually gave over the reins to his son Terry.
At first, Terry just performed the role of band tuner while his father still called the shots. Eventually, he was to assume full control and bring the band on to become the top outfit in the Republic of Ireland.
Sadly, Tommy Tully died in April 1984. Tommy was well known in the Pipe Band world as a 'character' and enlivened many an IPBA meeting with his observations and comments.
In the introduction to his first book of tunes, Terry Tully cites his father Tommy as having been the major influence on his playing career: a great tribute indeed to a great stalwart of the Pipe Band scene in Ireland.
Seamus Casey also died in 1984. Seamus, despite his years, continued to attend band practices right up to the week before he died.
The pipers and drummers in the St. Laurence O'Toole didn't pick their dedication up off the ground as they say here.
The band celebrated its 75th Anniversary in 1985 and were to finish that year as Champion of Champions in Grade 2 in the IPBA. The trophy presented was, rather aptly, the Tommy Tully Memorial Trophy .
About this time, both Terry Tully and Ronan Maguire (who joined the band in 1985) began to feature in solo contests. To date, they have won several All Ireland Senior Solo Championships between them and many other competitions.
1985 saw the band beginning to travel up north again for some 'real' competition and gradually began to feature in the prize lists.
In 1986, John Keogh took over as Drum Sergeant from Dominic Casey who had done sterling work up to that point. The improvement continued in 1987 with the help of this addition/upgrading of the back ranks/drummers the previous year in the form of this dynamic solo drumming champion Johnny Keogh taking over and bringing along his snare-drummers Christy Ward (who was later to swap direct allegiance from Johnny to Terry by joining the pipe corps in the early 90s when they were established in Grade 1) and Mick & Jenny Landers together with Bass Drummer John Dunne (taught by the late Mickey Carroll of the old Grade 1 - during the 50s & 60s- Fintan Lalor pipe band also from Dublin), P/M Terry Tully's sister Karen, was the sixth snare-drummer to complete the new and improved drum corps. John Dunne is still the band's world champion bass drummer. The band took 6th prize at the European Championship in Stranraer that year and played all the way back to the Ferryport.
The band took prizes in 17 out of 17 contests and finished 2nd in the World Pipe Band Championships in Glasgow.
The band won thirteen out of fifteen contests outright including the Leinster, Ulster, All-Ireland and Scottish Championships.
The band also finished 3rd at the Cowal Championship in Dunoon.
One placing higher in Dunoon that year would have seen O'Toole's as Champion of Champions in Grade 2 in Scotland. One piping judge placed the pipe corps 1st, while the other piping judge had them 17th out of 22 bands.
In 1988, the band were again placed second at the Worlds and were subsequently upgraded to Grade 1.
Elevation to Grade 1
1989 saw the band win its first Grade 1 contest, at Moira, beating Field Marshal Montgomery into second place - this was also the band's first outing in Grade 1. They were narrowly beaten into second place at the All Ireland that year also, as the Moira result was reversed - the contest was recorded by Lismor Records and the album is now a collectors item.1990s
In 1991, the St. Laurence O'Toole won the coveted Ulster Championships, becoming the first band from the Republic of Ireland ever to do so and also take the Grade One event at the Pitlochry Games in Scotland.Recognising the quality of their musical standard, the Irish government invited O'Toole's to the World Expo '92 in Seville, Spain along with such groups as The Chieftains. 1992 also saw the band gain a 4th prize at the Cowal Championships in Dunoon.
O'Toole's suffer from the same problem as many Irish bands - lack of players to compete at the highest level. The IPBA only has 50-60 pipe bands spread over 26 counties ( i.e. approx. 24,000 square miles). Players in the band sometimes have to make round trips of over 200 miles to practice, at their own expense. This is a logistics problem that is not easily solved.
2002
The band have regularly been in the prize list in Ireland but Scotland has been a tougher nut to crack - until 2002. This had been the band's best season to date, with prizes gained at the All Ireland, European and British Championships and a seventh at the World Championships (just outside the prize list).The pipe corps have gone from strength to strength and the drum corp, now led by Stephen Creighton, are a real contender for major honours - they took the premier drumming prize at the All Ireland and became the first Republic of Ireland band since 1966 to do so.
2003
The 2003 season saw prizes gained at three of the major championships in Scotland. After a shaky start at the first major (Dumbarton), the band went on to gain placings at the British, Cowal and European Championships - three 5th's in all.They narrowly lost out on the All Ireland title once again to the Field Marshal Montgomery. The band won the medley, best bass and tenor and also the drum corp retained their crown from the previous season. The winner on the day was decided on MSR piping preference as both bands were tied on overall points.
The band also finished up 9th overall at the World Pipe Band Championships, winning the morning qualifying round with ease.
With a little more luck on the day the band could have finished in the overall prizes as they were 6th in the MSR in the final but too far down in the medley .
2004
More great strides were made in 2004. The band for the first time in its history gained prizes in all five major championships, beginning with a 4th prize at the Scottish Championships in Dumbarton. At the British Championship in Turriff the band moved up another notch in the pecking order, taking 3rd. Next up was the European Championships in Lisburn, and again the band went one better, 2nd. Could the ultimate be achieved at the next major, the Worlds?Not quite, but a very credible 6th prize was gained and the celebrations continued long into the night (and next morning!)
The band finished off the season at the Cowal Championships in Dunoon with a 3rd prize.
Next up, the All Ireland Solo Championships which again this proved very successful for the band players. Alen Tully and Stephen Creighton took both Senior Piping and Drumming,Stewart MacLeod took the Junior Piping and Conor Sherry finished joint 2nd in the Intermediate Drumming.
2005
2005 saw the band maintain its top six ranking in the first two major championships and finish 5th in the World Pipe Band Championships. The bands best result at the time.The band released its first CD in 2005 - The Dawning of the Day, a live recording of its performance at the “pre worlds concert” held in the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall is an arts venue, in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is operated by Glasgow Life, an agency of Glasgow City Council, which also runs Glasgow’s City Halls and Old Fruitmarket venue...
, arguably the most important concert in the pipe band calendar.
2006
In comparison with the bands recent high standards 2006 threatened to be a momentary glitch when the band missed the entry for the Scottish Championships in Dumbarton and had their worst placing at a Major Championship in years at the British Championships (8th).The World Championships was bitter sweet for the band. The drum corps won the World Drumming Title for the first time becoming the first band from The Repbulic of Ireland ever to do so. However the band slipped out of the top six for the first time since 2003.
2007
The Band won the coveted All-Ireland Championship Grade One Title in 2007 beating the reigning British, European, Cowal & World Champions, Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe BandField Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band
The Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band is a World Champion grade one pipe band from Lisburn, Northern Ireland and named in honour of Field Marshal Sir Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein.- Overview :...
of Lisburn, Northern Ireland. They also gained top six placings in all five major championships throughout the year.
2008
The first half of the 2008 season saw the band win the Scottish & British Championships and retain the All-Ireland title. They went on to be crowned the RSPBA Champion of Champions for 2008. Undoubtedly the band’s most successful season to date.2009
This year saw the band's greatest achievement to date at the World Championships in Glasgow. The band finished 3rd becoming the first band to break up the 'big three' since the Victoria Police in 1998.2010
In 2010, the band had another extremely successful season, with a 4th at the Scottish Championships and a 3rd at the British Championships. They won the All-Ireland and European Championships. The band returned to the Glasgow Royal Concert HallGlasgow Royal Concert Hall
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall is an arts venue, in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is operated by Glasgow Life, an agency of Glasgow City Council, which also runs Glasgow’s City Halls and Old Fruitmarket venue...
for the “pre worlds concert” this time entitled Evolution. The concert sold out for only the third time in its history. Most notably however, three days later the band won the most prestigious prize in the pipe band world, winning the World Pipe Band Championships
World Pipe Band Championships
The World Pipe Band Championships is a pipe band competition currently held in Glasgow, Scotland every August. The event has been operating regularly since 1930, when the Scottish Pipe Band Association was formed...
. It marked the first time in over 10 years that a band other than Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band, Simon Fraser University Pipe Band, or the House of Edgar Shotts and Dykehead won the title.