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Garret Barry (piper)

The final illustration in Francis O’Neill's Irish Minstrels and Musicians (1913) shows a likely depiction of Garrett Barry, ‘the blind piper of Inagh’, processed from an original photograph.

Garret(t) Barry (Irish: Gearóid de Barra; 27 March 1847 – 6 April 1899) was a blind Irish uilleann piper from Inagh, County Clare, among the most famous players of the 19th century.[1]

Barry was born in 1847, during the Great Famine, and disease caused him to lose his sight as a young child. A common form of charity for the disabled, Barry was taught the uilleann pipes, giving him a livelihood and a place within the community. As a bearer of the piping tradition Barry was a popular and respected musician travelling his region to play at house dances.[2]

He inspired many later pipers such as Willie Clancy (whose father knew Barry). He is credited with many tunes that are still in the repertoire of players of Irish traditional music such as ‘Garrett Barry's jig', ‘The Humours of Gl(e)in', and ‘I buried my wife and danced on top of her'.[2][3][4]

  1. ^ Spillane, Davy; Walsh, Tommy (31 March 2011). The Davy Spillane Uilleann Pipe Tutor, Book 1. Mel Bay Publications. p. 20.
  2. ^ a b Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin (1998). A pocket history of Irish traditional music. O'Brien Press. p. 83.
  3. ^ Munnelly, Tom (1998). "Junior Crehan of Bonavilla". Béaloideas. Iml. 66. An Cumann Le Béaloideas Éireann/The Folklore of Ireland Society: 59–161. doi:10.2307/20522496. JSTOR 20522496.
  4. ^ Browne, Peter (1998). "Tunes of the Munster Pipers". Béaloideas. Iml. 66. An Cumann Le Béaloideas Éireann/The Folklore of Ireland Society: 298–303. doi:10.2307/20522523. JSTOR 20522523.

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