Patsy Touhey is considered by most connoisseurs of Irish music to be the greatest left-handed uilleann piper ever to live and record music. A year or two ago when Jack McCarrick was giving a lecture before a group I run, he questioned where Patsy Touhey could be buried. I called St. Raymond's Cemetery and found that he was indeed interred therein and, since I had the date of his death, they were able to provide the location of his gravesite. Unfortunately, when I went to view it, there was a Thomas Connelly and family there and no mention of Touhey. I called Jack and he also called the cemetery thinking I simply misheard the location. Together the two of us went back to St. Raymonds's and sure enough, the Connelly family stone stood a the designated Touhey site. We searched other ranges thinking it could be a recording error. After all, the burial took place in 1923 and the records were kept in pen and ink. We couldn't find it and thought that Touhey might have been related to the Connellys, so we left it for another day.
We kept it as an open question to be investigated. A week or two ago Jack was speaking to a musician friend who knew a left-handed uilleann piper who knew where Patsy Touhey was buried. We were able to contact him and arranged to meet him at St. Raymond's Cemetery and he recounted how he, too, had the wrong information and searched the area without success. It was his ten-year old son who discovered the stone only five gravesites west of where we found the Connellys. We looked north, south, and to the east, but not to the west. Another mystery solved thanks to Dan McNamara and his son.
Patrick J. Touhey was born near Loughrea in County Galway, Ireland on February 26, 1865. He came to America with his family at the age of three and they settled in South Boston.
Pat's father and grandfather were pipers so it was no surprise that he, too, should take up the pipes. He lapsed from his music while very young but then in his late teens he heard John Egan play in a Bowery music hall and his interest in the pipes was renewed.
Before long he was traveling and performing at the leadng American venues including the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago and the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.
Patsy eventually settled in the Bronx on Bristow Street in Morrisania and later he moved up to 1175 Grand Concourse. He passed away on January 10, 1923 and was interred in St. Raymonds Cemetery. He is still considered by many as the greatest piper to ever live and his recordings are scarce and collectable.
Note: Above newspaper article written by Bill Twomey, Bronx Times Reporter, June 28, 2007
We kept it as an open question to be investigated. A week or two ago Jack was speaking to a musician friend who knew a left-handed uilleann piper who knew where Patsy Touhey was buried. We were able to contact him and arranged to meet him at St. Raymond's Cemetery and he recounted how he, too, had the wrong information and searched the area without success. It was his ten-year old son who discovered the stone only five gravesites west of where we found the Connellys. We looked north, south, and to the east, but not to the west. Another mystery solved thanks to Dan McNamara and his son.
Patrick J. Touhey was born near Loughrea in County Galway, Ireland on February 26, 1865. He came to America with his family at the age of three and they settled in South Boston.
Pat's father and grandfather were pipers so it was no surprise that he, too, should take up the pipes. He lapsed from his music while very young but then in his late teens he heard John Egan play in a Bowery music hall and his interest in the pipes was renewed.
Before long he was traveling and performing at the leadng American venues including the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago and the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.
Patsy eventually settled in the Bronx on Bristow Street in Morrisania and later he moved up to 1175 Grand Concourse. He passed away on January 10, 1923 and was interred in St. Raymonds Cemetery. He is still considered by many as the greatest piper to ever live and his recordings are scarce and collectable.
Note: Above newspaper article written by Bill Twomey, Bronx Times Reporter, June 28, 2007
Patsy Touhey is considered by most connoisseurs of Irish music to be the greatest left-handed uilleann piper ever to live and record music. A year or two ago when Jack McCarrick was giving a lecture before a group I run, he questioned where Patsy Touhey could be buried. I called St. Raymond's Cemetery and found that he was indeed interred therein and, since I had the date of his death, they were able to provide the location of his gravesite. Unfortunately, when I went to view it, there was a Thomas Connelly and family there and no mention of Touhey. I called Jack and he also called the cemetery thinking I simply misheard the location. Together the two of us went back to St. Raymonds's and sure enough, the Connelly family stone stood a the designated Touhey site. We searched other ranges thinking it could be a recording error. After all, the burial took place in 1923 and the records were kept in pen and ink. We couldn't find it and thought that Touhey might have been related to the Connellys, so we left it for another day.
We kept it as an open question to be investigated. A week or two ago Jack was speaking to a musician friend who knew a left-handed uilleann piper who knew where Patsy Touhey was buried. We were able to contact him and arranged to meet him at St. Raymond's Cemetery and he recounted how he, too, had the wrong information and searched the area without success. It was his ten-year old son who discovered the stone only five gravesites west of where we found the Connellys. We looked north, south, and to the east, but not to the west. Another mystery solved thanks to Dan McNamara and his son.
Patrick J. Touhey was born near Loughrea in County Galway, Ireland on February 26, 1865. He came to America with his family at the age of three and they settled in South Boston.
Pat's father and grandfather were pipers so it was no surprise that he, too, should take up the pipes. He lapsed from his music while very young but then in his late teens he heard John Egan play in a Bowery music hall and his interest in the pipes was renewed.
Before long he was traveling and performing at the leadng American venues including the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago and the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.
Patsy eventually settled in the Bronx on Bristow Street in Morrisania and later he moved up to 1175 Grand Concourse. He passed away on January 10, 1923 and was interred in St. Raymonds Cemetery. He is still considered by many as the greatest piper to ever live and his recordings are scarce and collectable.
Note: Above newspaper article written by Bill Twomey, Bronx Times Reporter, June 28, 2007
We kept it as an open question to be investigated. A week or two ago Jack was speaking to a musician friend who knew a left-handed uilleann piper who knew where Patsy Touhey was buried. We were able to contact him and arranged to meet him at St. Raymond's Cemetery and he recounted how he, too, had the wrong information and searched the area without success. It was his ten-year old son who discovered the stone only five gravesites west of where we found the Connellys. We looked north, south, and to the east, but not to the west. Another mystery solved thanks to Dan McNamara and his son.
Patrick J. Touhey was born near Loughrea in County Galway, Ireland on February 26, 1865. He came to America with his family at the age of three and they settled in South Boston.
Pat's father and grandfather were pipers so it was no surprise that he, too, should take up the pipes. He lapsed from his music while very young but then in his late teens he heard John Egan play in a Bowery music hall and his interest in the pipes was renewed.
Before long he was traveling and performing at the leadng American venues including the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago and the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.
Patsy eventually settled in the Bronx on Bristow Street in Morrisania and later he moved up to 1175 Grand Concourse. He passed away on January 10, 1923 and was interred in St. Raymonds Cemetery. He is still considered by many as the greatest piper to ever live and his recordings are scarce and collectable.
Note: Above newspaper article written by Bill Twomey, Bronx Times Reporter, June 28, 2007
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