Eoin Ó Riabhaigh: When the ancient uilleann pipes meet modern 3D printing
Piper Eoin Ó Riabhaigh plays at the 3 Rivers Rising festival in St Luke's, Cork.
Taking place across the second weekend of June, the 3 Rivers Rising festival happens at an opportune time for folk and traditional music in Cork, buoyed by a talented young crop of newcomers, and a steady backbone of longtime performers resident in the city.
One of the cornerstones of the weekender is musician and craftsman Eoin Ó Riabhaigh - equally renowned for his prowess as a maker of uilleann pipes, as for learning his craft as a piper from the age of 9, studying under his father, the legendary Mícheál Ó Riabhaigh.
“My dad was a piping fanatic - his whole life was centred around it," says Ó Riabhaigh. "He was a civil servant, but had no kind of interest in his work, really, it was just a way of financing his interest in music. He taught in the Cork School of Music two nights a week, and he also ran the Pipers' Club in various locations.
“Growing up with the aul' fella, it was great. We were fierce buddies, he died when I was just 17. We were very friendly, a very strong tie there musically. I used to get away with murder with the father, and not so much with the mother then as a result [laughs].”
To say that Ó Riabhaigh has shared stages and studios with a wide variety of artists would be an understatement. Having served time as part of Jimmy Crowley’s band Stoker’s Lodge, he went on to play with Dolores Keane, Mary Black, Frankie Gavin and a host of international folk outfits. Along the way, he found the role of the pipes in traditional music commanded respect for a sometimes-difficult skillset.
“It's different now, it's a much more internationally-recognised instrument now, but thirty years ago, not so much, definitely. It was an oddball instrument to play here, not to mind in Alabama, or somewhere. It was viewed very much as a bona-fide instrument, a folk instrument, but considered to be excessively difficult to learn, and I suppose that was part of the appreciation as well. People saw this guy wrestling an octopus, and being able to get reasonably good music from it, in my case. I suppose they were an oddity, but always treated with respect.”
Qualifying in the 1980s as a mechanical fitter, Ó Riabhaigh utilised his penchant for the practical in a variety of ways, including heading up the workshop at the National Sculpture Factory in Cork, and branching out into fabrication for private projects and collaborations with sculptors.
"I was that young fella every father hated - rips the f**king radio apart and can't put it back together. I got a really good grounding in planning my work. The fitting was great [for my craft] because I was used to using a lot of the machines. All that experience behind me was really helpful in terms of making and maintaining my own gear."
Necessity is often the mother of invention, and after the passing of his favoured instrument-maker, Ó Riabhaigh set about making pipes himself. He began to build instruments from new and also help restore historic sets - Ó Riabhaigh speaks on how the tradition of pipe-making has met with modernity in his use of 3D printing and CNC machining.
“I prepare the wood for the chanter and the other parts of the pipes, it's all seasoned timber that's been pre-drilled and allowed to acclimate for maybe a year or two years, depending on the application. Some of the processes are computer-controlled, and I've drawn the pipes up as 3D models, and I cut them on a CNC router, then. It's a completely different way than I think anybody else, that I know of.”
Ó Riabhaigh’s presence on the 3 Rivers Rising bill provides the festival with an important intergenerational link. For his end, he’ll be exploring his musical body of work in song and conversation, including a Saturday night performance alongside a hand-picked coterie of peers.
“They're all old friends. They would all be considered top-notch players in their own rights, and they're people I grew up with, influenced my music, and continue to do so.”
- 3 Rivers Rising Festival happens at St Luke’s in Cork city, from Friday June 10 to Sunday June 12. Eoin Ó Riabhaigh & Friends (Colm Murphy, Tom Stephens, Aidan Coffey, Mary Green, Noel Shine, Johnny McCarthy, Conal Ó Gráda, Pat ‘Herring’ Ahern and Con Fáda) play on Saturday evening, on a bill that also includes John Spillane,Trá Pháidín, and Les SalAmandas.
- For more info and tickets, visit https://uticket.ie/event/3-rivers-rising
Cúil Aodha singer Iarla Ó Lionáird’s career has spanned modernity and tradition: a veteran sean-nós singer, he was once part of the trailblazing Afro-Celt Sound System, and is a member of supergroup The Gloaming.
A star-studded lineup features a living legend of Cork music in Jimmy Crowley: whether as part of the legendary Stoker’s Lodge, a longtime solo singer, or a collector of over one thousand songs for our sister paper The Echo, Crowley is one of the city’s definitive voices.
After the gig, Ellie O’Byrne speaks with Crowley about his life, legacy, and expansive songbook. Happens across the road from the venue at the Wine Tavern, next to Henchy’s.
A huge, genre-straddling billing ranges from Cork’s singer laureate John Spillane, to seven-piece Gaelgóir proggers Trá Phaidín and West Cork duo Las SalAmandas, to Eoin O’Riabhaigh and a selection of peers, contemporaries and influences.
