by Gerry Wynne, Lusk ,for the band's 50th. Anniversary in 1960
It is always very difficult to discover the exact moment of the birth of an idea. In the case of the Black Raven Pipe Band it is probably true to say that the beginnings of the band coincided with the resurgence in pride of all things national at the turn of the 20th. century. The revival of interest in the Irish language early in the 1900s led to a revival in the national game of hurling. One of the earliest and most enthusiastic of the clubs in Fingal (North County Dublin) was the Naomh MacCullen Hurling Club. They travelled about playing matches in the Dublin Junior Hurling League and on one of their visits to Dublin they saw the Keady Pipers from Armagh marching through the city. The colourful uniform and the enthusiastic reception given to the band by the people of Dublin made a deep impression on the Lusk lads.
About this time a man called Thomas Ashe , who was the headmaster of Corduff School in Lusk and also a member of the hurling club had obtained from Paddy White (the marathon runner) a set of bagpipes which the latter had won as a trophy. Thomas Ashe taught himself how to play and sometime early in 1910 he and John Rooney of Raheny House decided to start a pipers’ club.
At that stage they had little hope of being able to gather the funds and support they knew were needed to form a band and so they described themselves as a club. The two men were soon joined by Jimmy Sheridan of Corduff and Dick McArdle of Lusk. They organised a collection and due to the help of the members of the hurling club and the Dramatic Class they were soon able to purchase two more sets of pipes and the band came into existence.
The Library Hall was used for practice .One evening, a certain Jack McNally was passing ,complete with tin whistle, and following an old Lusk custom, looked in the library window and listened to ‘The Wind That Shakes the Barley’ going full blast. The pipes finished the tune but a tin whistle echo remained until Tom Ashe ordered a foray and the tin whistle man was captured on the Green. He has not yet succeeded in escaping from the band.
During the winter of 1910 and the Spring of 1911 , Dick McArdle and Jack McNally travelled regularly to Bill Andrews in Dublin for tuition and they in turn taught the others. Davey Langan of the St. Maur’s Fife and Drum Band in Rush taught the drummers. During this period also, local ladies, notably Miss Margaret Clarke, Miss Therese Carton, Mrs. Lamb and Ms Kate Mc Cardle were busy designing and making up uniforms. The material was procured by Mr. F. J. Bigger, the noted antiquarian of Belfast, who gave the new band every help and encouragement. He it was who named the band and gave them the first Black Raven flag which was made in Belfast. The origin of this flag goes back to the Battle of Clontarf when the Irish King Brian Boru captured a Black Raven Flag from the Danes.
In early summer of 1911, the band paraded for the first time in uniform. Two designs were adopted. One – Black tunic, green kilt, white plaid; the other a white tunic , saffron kilt and black plaid. The original members of the band were almost all members of the Lusk Hurling Club and enthusiasm for all things national at the time ensured the band the backing and support of the people.
The first line out of the band as shown in a photo taken on St. Patrick’s Day 1910 was as follows:
J. Sheridan; Matt McCann; Dicky Auinger; Joe Clarke; Nicky Meehan; John Rooney; ,Tom Ashe; Frank Morgan; John Clarke; Matt Kelly; Dick McArdle; with Davy Langan.
During 1911 and 1912 the band went from strength to strength . The original members were joined by further enthusiasts ,notably Johnny Devine, Tom Rafferty, Tom McArdle, Pat Kelly, Charlie Weston, Willie Meehan, Pat Caddel, Pat Halpin, Frank Murphy, Dan Brophy, Tom Doyle, Jack Rafferty.
In 1913, the band competed in Galway against such bands as the City of Dublin, St. Laurence O’Tooles, Fintan Lalor, De Lacy Family Band and won. The following year, they travelled to Killarney and were recorded a special welcome by ‘The McGillicuddy’ (hereditary chieftain)who expressed himself as proud to be host to Tom Ashe’s band. Lispole, near Tralee, was the birth place of Thomas Ashe and the Kerry people could not do enough for Tom Ashe’s band. They won 1st. place in the competition and their numerical strength at this time was such that while in Killarney they were able to parade a full band and still allow some of the bandsmen to take advantage of the sightseeing tour. A story is told that one of these parties while returning to the town in a sidecar met a pipe band marching and playing towards them. While some distance away they remarked among themselves what a fine band it was and when just abreast of it discovered it was their own. They had not up to then seen it from the outside.
In 1915 the band competed in Cork where they obtained 3rd. place. About this time, some of the lads patronised a fortune teller for fun and she told them they would make a journey across water. A good number of them duly did as they were interned in England after the 1916 Rising. On Easter Sunday, they played at a function held by the Irish National Foresters at Lusk. The history of the Battle of Ashbourne became the history of the Black Raven band for this period , for many of the lads fought in that engagement and it resulted in the death of Tom Rafferty and the wounding of several more. The result was that the band was practically suspended until the general amnesty of June 1917. Almost at once, the band reformed and on Tom Ashe’s tragic death in September 1917, they had the sad privilege of leading the funeral cortege through the streets of Dublin to Glasnevin Cemetery .
Another visit to Killarney in 1918 gave the Kerry people an opportunity to show their respect to the memory of Thomas Ashe through showing a great welcome to the band.
During a competition in Cork in 1919, a comical incident took place which shows that the Lusk lads had an eye for beauty as well as an ear. It happened that while marching in competition , one of the drummers caught sight of a lovely young lady in the audience. This no doubt helped to improve his playing but unfortunately it prevented him from turning when the rest of the band turned to counter march. He, wrapped up in contemplation of feminine beauty, just marched straight on and the band was disqualified. It is not recorded how or in what condition the player returned to Lusk!
The Black and Tans gave the band and its individual members more than their share of trouble. On the morning of 22nd. January 1920 , two local men , Jack McCann and Terry Sherlock, were taken out of their homes by the Tans and executed. The band room was raided and all the instruments which were not already in hiding were taken. They also took away the Black Raven Flag. Efforts were subsequently made to find out what had happened to the instruments but with no success.
One of the surviving sets of pipes was in the possession of an old bandsman who never lost his interest in pipe music, Matt McCann. He often played his pipes in his own back garden and the music attracted the lads who were subsequently to become the back bone of a reformed pipe band in Lusk. In November 1927, Frank Devine, Charlie Hurley, Dan Sherry and Eamonn Monks started on practice chanters, encouraged and taught by Matt. Their music room was a barn behind Matt’s house and the music itself was written on a white washed wall.
In May 1928, a meeting was called and the band was officially reformed, Paddy Doyle becoming secretary. Rev. Fr. Flood, the Parish Priest, gave permission for the band to use the Library Hall for practice and he also told them of pipes which had come into the possession of Canon Ryan of Skerries. Jack McNally, Johnny Devine and Charlie Hurley went to see the Canon and when he handed them the pipes, Jack immediately identified them as his own which had been taken by the Black and Tans years before.
The members of the band, new and old, were helped by enthusiastic well wishers, notably Tommy Thomson, and they organised a house to house collection. They soon had six sets of pipes and having obtained a loan of drums from St. Maur’s Fife and Drum band of Rush, they got down to band practice in earnest. Pat Jones of St. Maur’s band taught the drummers .Matt McCann and Johnny Devine held classes with practice chanters in the library and often on summer evenings , outdoors on the green. Practice continued through the rest of 1928 and into 1929. In November 1928, Paddy Doyle emigrated to England and Charlie Hurley became secretary and served in that position until 1948. As the band progressed , they often paraded in and out of the village and in August 1929 they accepted an invitation to play at a bazaar in Donabate and also at a Fingal Football final between St. Maur’s and Reynoldstown Rovers. They did not have a uniform as yet and the band formed up as follows: Pipers – Frank Devine; Johnny Devine; Matt McCann; Dick McArdle(Pipe Major) ; John Clarke; Jack McNally. Dan Sherry on Bass Drum and on side drums Paddy Doyle and Pat Halpin. Charlie Hurley and Eamonn Monks were spare pipers and Joe Kirwin was trainee Bass Drummer. When Joe became proficient, Dan Sherry resumed as a piper.
Dances were organised and trojan work was done by Johnny Devine and Tommy Thomson. These efforts led to the requisition of new uniforms which were made by Padraig O’Flasain , then of O’Connell Street, Dublin.
On the 29th. June 1930 the band paraded in their new uniform and also went to Swords to a Feis Cup Final between Fingallians and Pioneers.
At this time , the Black Raven flag had not been replaced and Riobard Hand carried a Black Thorn stick as staff man. During the winter of 1929 Colm O’Loughlin lectured in the library hall on Irish songs and how to sing them. The band started practice after the lecture and when Colum heard them he became keenly interested. During the course of conversation , he offered to present the band with a new flag if the band agreed to host an Aeriocht in Lusk. This they did and the flag has been carried proudly in many parts of the country since. . After suffering inevitable wear and tear, this flag has again been replaced through the kindness of one of the band’s founders, John Rooney.
The design of the new uniform was based on that of the old one with the kilts again in the two colours , green and saffron. In 1934 at the Fingal Feis the band lost a competition due apparently to the lack of uniformity in dress and as a result the saffron kilts were dyed green. The history can be completed by recording that at the suggestion of Sergeant Collopy of the Gardai, it was decided to purchase some unused surplus tunics from the Gardai. These tunics of excellent material and cut lent themselves to adoption by Mr PJ Kelly tailor of Drimnagh and with epaulettes and silver flashings gave a richness and finish to the appearance of the band that was the admiration of all who saw them. The sporrans were added in 1954 and gave that important finishing touch.
Believing that competition is a great spur towards perfection and a valuable booster to morale, the band has travelled all over the country to compete against the pick of the bands from Ireland ,Northern Ireland and Scotland. Before and since the formation of the Irish Pipe Band Association in 1944 the band has competed successfully in a host of competitions.