Putting the Taylor Brothers on the map
WHILE the haunting sound of the uillean pipes might float along the streets of Drogheda during the Fleadh, many may not realise the local link there is with this traditional instrument.
Local artist Ciaran Dunlevy has completed his latest addition to Drogheda’s growing mural collection, this time in Shop Street, and has given a nod to these famous locals.
Hanging like a large painting to the gable end of Benny Dowd’s menswear, the outdoor arts depicts a view of the same bustling street from the late 1800s, taken from St Mary’s Bridge.
Prominent in the piece is a portrait of a pair of brothers born in the town, who went on to achieve international fame in the music world.
“Because it is such a great blank space, I decided to do it like a giant painting hanging on the wall,” says Ciaran, who has also worked on the mural to the rear of the neighbouring Augustinian Church.
“It was inspired by a photograph which was already beautifully sepia-toned by age, so I didn’t have to use my imagination too much.”
Where he has used his imagination is the painting of the Taylor Brothers - Billy and Charles - born in Drogheda but celebrated worldwide for developing the modern uillean pipes as we now know them.
Born about 1830, where his father was a piper, pipemaker, and organ builder in the town, William ‘Billy’ Taylor grew up in the trade and continued it until the day of his death, in 1891.
“There was no known photograph of the brothers, so local historian Baz Sheridan did an impression of what they may have looked like,” adds Ciaran.
“I don’t have a date for the photograph, but it is definitely before the Lawrence collection, as you can see the Whitworth monument at the bottom of Peter Street.”
When the boys’ father realised that as a performer he was excelled by his son, he continued with the business, but had lost all taste for playing himself. The decline of pipe music in Ireland in the third quarter of the nineteenth century determined William Taylor and his stepbrother, Charles, to emigrate to America and try their fortunes on the other side of the Atlantic.
They turned out the same quality pipes they made in Drogheda in their Philadelphia shop and medals were awarded to the Taylors at the Centennial Exposition held in that city in 1875.
“There’ll be some plaques put along the bottom to explain the whole story to people looking at the mural,” explains Ciaran.
“It’s great to see the businesses in Shop Street, as well as the Augustian’s doing something to welcome people to the Fleadh.”