St. Laurence O'Toole Pipe Band
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| Established | 1910
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| Location | Dublin, Ireland
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| Grade | 1
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| Pipe Major | Terry Tully
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| Drum Sergeant | Stephen Creighton
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| Tartan | Green
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| Notable Honours | World Championship Rankings : 2007(6th), 2006(7th), 2005(5th), 2004(6th) - World Champions 2006 (drum corps)- All-Ireland Champions 2007.
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| Website | www.slotpb.com |
The St. Laurence O'Toole Pipe Band is a Grade One pipe band based in Dublin, Ireland. The band was established in 1910.
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, 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 HQ of the band 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 1930's 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 B.B.C. 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 1930's,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 1950's 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,the late Tommy Tully acted as Pipe Major. Eventually,Tommy was elected as Pipe Major. Things got to such a dire state,however,at one stage that 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,Terry 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 at 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 too numerous to mention here. 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 band took 6th prize at the European Championship in Stranraer that year and played all the way back to the Ferryport.
The improvement continued in 1987. 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. Has any one ever explained why one piping judge had the pipe corps 1st while the other piping judge had them 17th out of 22 bands ?? And you feel hard done by at times ??
In 1988, the band were again placed second at the Worlds and were subsequently upgraded 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 bands first outing in Grade 1. The band 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. 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 O'Toole's sometimes have to make round trips of 200 miles plus to practice,at their own expense . This is a logistics problem that is not easily solved.
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 best season to date - with prizes gained at the All Ireland,European and British Championships and a very credible 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.
The 2003 season was pretty impressive too - with prizes gained at three of the major championships in Scotland. After a shaky start at the first major (Dumbarton), the band when on to gain placings at the British , Cowal and European Championships - three 5th's in all. 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 being 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 . Unfortunately, it wasn't to be......
More great strides were made in 2004. The band for the first time in its history gaining 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. A very satisying season indeed.
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, Scottish and World Championships. Its drum corps won the World title in 2006 and has won the All-Ireland drumming title in 2006, 2004, 2003 and 2002.
The band released its first CD in 2005 - The Dawning of the Day, a live recording of its performance at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall.
The Band won the coveted All-Ireland Championship Grade One Title in 2007 beating the reigning British and World Champions, Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band of Lisburn, Northern Ireland.
The band's Pipe Major is Terry Tully and Pipe Sergeant is Alen Tully. The lead drummer is Stephen Creighton.
