‘Mná na bPíob’

The Irish female pipers wiped from history.

Until now.

Linda Ni Ghriofa writes:

A trawl through the annals of Irish traditional music will quickly demonstrate that the Uilleann Pipes, one of our two national instruments, was almost completely dominated by players of the male sex throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.

In this feature-length documentary film, we will follow renowned musician Louise Mulcahy (at top playing pipes owned by uilleann virtuoso Liam Óg O’Flynn) on an exciting journey to uncover the neglected stories of a group of incredible female pipers that were airbrushed out of our cultural history.

This vibrant and entertaining documentary is decorated with some incredible musical performances from Louise, Michelle and Mick Mulcahy, Máire Ní Ghráda, Molly Ní Ghrada, Mary Mitchell-Ingoldsby, Rosaleen O’Leary, Heather Clarke, Marion McCarthy, Síle Friel, Jane Walls, The Rowsome family, Paddy Moloney and many more.

Mná na bPíob on Sunday, December 19 at 9.30pm on TG4.

Pic: Victor Tzelepis