Nicholas Burke, (born 1837) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

uilleann piper. Burke was born in the parish of

Annaghdown Annaghdown ( ga, Eanach Dhúin, ) is a civil parish in County Galway, Ireland. It takes its name from ''Eanach Dhúin'', Irish for "the marsh of the fort". It lies around Annaghdown Bay, an inlet of Lough Corrib. Villages in the civil parish in ...

. He emigrated to the United States as a young man, settling in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York. There he worked as a carpenter, "developed into a skilful draughtsman, and eventually became a successful and prosperous builder." He gained a reputation as a piper of distinction, playing the uilleann pipes primarily for himself, or "the entertainment of his friends, and invariably in his own home." Captain

Francis O'Neill Francis O'Neill (August 28, 1848 – January 26, 1936) was an Irish-born American police officer and collector of Irish traditional music. His biographer Nicholas Carolan referred to him as "the greatest individual influence on the evolution o ...

relied heavily upon him as an informant for other Irish pipers of the 1800s, many of whom Burke was acquainted.

"On learning the nature of the purpose in view, Mr. Burke obligingly “took his pen in hand” and wrote out pages upon pages of interesting memoirs dealing with nearly a score of pipers about whom we knew practically nothing, besides giving supplementary information concerning many others already on our list. In fact Mr. Burke may aptly be termed the Plutarch of the pipers."

References

* ''Irish Minstrels and Musicians'', by Capt.

, 1913. * ''Burke:People and Places'', p. 101, Eamonn de Burca,

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

, 1995.

External links

* http://billhaneman.ie/IMM/IMM-XXII.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Burke, Nicholas 1837 births Irish male uilleann pipers Musicians from County Galway People from Brooklyn Year of death missing 19th-century Irish male musicians 19th-century Irish uilleann pipers

See also

References

External links