A BRIEF HISTORY- by Danny Martin
During the year 1946, four men decided to revive the old Division of the Ancient Order of Hibernians in Raphoe . William Crawford, James Brolly, Anthony Connolly and Robert Quinn, of whom all are deceased except William Crawford. These men arranged a meeting in the Marathon Hall, which was very well attended by a large number of men, particularly young men. A Committee was set up and these four men became the first Officers. The A. 0. H. Headquarters was approached, with the view of being admitted and forming a Division. This was accepted by Headquarters, and were given the old number 216 which was the number held by a Division in Raphoe some fifty years previous. The new Division was functioning very well and growing in numbers. However, it soon became obvious to the Committee and members, that a Band was needed to Head the Division, if they were to participate fully in the A.O.H. Demonstrations, which at the time were held at different venues throughout the County. Lucky enough at this time, a Band from Derry THE SONS OF ERIN were folding up and selling their instruments and equipment. The Raphoe Committee quickly approached them, to try and purchase, and were successful, and purchased nine sets of pipes, four side Drums, Bass Drum, two Tenor Drums, Marching Poles, Flag Poles etc. for 1 50. The four men already mentioned clubbed together and paid this sum.
A piping teacher was found, a Mr Paddy Callaghan from Newtoncunningham, who set about giving lessons to those interested in becoming Band Members, and a Drumming Teacher Mr. Patrick McGill, St. Johnston was engaged to’ teach Drumming. This was during the Winter of 1946. The Committee however thought that the Piping Teacher, though first class, his method was too slow in order to have the Band on the road the following St. Patrick’s Day. He was replaced by one of the band members, John O’Kane who had piping experience with a former St. Johnston Band. John adopted a different method of teaching, just to fall in with the Committees wishes, teaching by finger movements and not contemplating too much, on the Musical Values. However the Band went out on that St. Patrick’s Day 1947, with four tunes, marching first to morning mass, and then later to a demonstration in Strabane. The Band looked extremely well, in their green and saffron colours, green tunics, kilt and shawl saffron colour, which was made by Mrs. Sadie Logan who is still alive and well. The materials were purchased from the late Mr. William Reynolds, who then had a Drapery Business in Raphoe. If the people of Raphoe felt a sense of pride in having a band of their own, on that occasion, they were no more so than the men who helped to set it up and the playing members who performed that day.
The Band was followed by a large Contingent of Divisional members, all wearing Collarettes and marching behind in good Military like formation. The four men whose whole idea it was, walked in front. The Band and Divisional members attended all A.O.H. demonstrations afterwards, and in the year 1949, they themselves, were hosts to one of these demonstrations in Raphoe, and again in the years 1961 and 1967. These demonstrations were held on the Feast of Our Lady 15th August and attracted around 7,000 people to Raphoe, several Bands and Divisions coming across the border from Northern Ireland, as well as Donegal Divisions and Bands. A few years later the troubles began in Northern Ireland, and the A. O. H., in the south became weary of holding demonstrations. Although the A. O. H. is non-political, and formed mostly to protect the faith, and to help people in need, at a time when there was no social benefits from the state, it was hard to make people understand this, therefore it was best not to give any reason for bringing thousands of people together, that might give the wrong impression to many whose only thinking would be political, and the A.O.H.
Demonstrations ceased, causing many bands to fold – Raphoe Band held on, and became a parish Band in 1971 and taking the name St. Eunan’s Raphoe.
There were many festivals and sports days being organised at different venues from that period afterwards. In order to attract Bands these Festival Committees held little competitions for trophies and sometimes cash prizes. This gave bands a different kind of interest and a friendly rivalry amongst them. The first trophy that Raphoe Band won was at one of these festivals, held at Glenswilly in 1971, when they defeated Manorcunningham former A. 0. H. band still in action at the time. This was one of the best moral boosts that Raphoe Band members could get, they took much more interest in bettering their performances after that.
They improved immensely, and soon figured among the winners at such festivals afterwards. They hold a huge store of trophies confirming their many successes down the years. In the year 1974 the Band was invited to attend the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Dublin. This was a great honour for the Band, and an unforgettable experience for the members. They again attended the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Dublin in 1980. A memorable occasion was the opening of the Diamond Amenities Scheme in Raphoe in 1975. History was made and much press coverage was given, when the two local Pipe bands in Raphoe, the Orange Band and St. Eunan’s Band, joined in parade and marched together. They did so on many other occasions in Raphoe afterwards. These two Bands always held a good respect for each other, and often helped each other in loaning instruments on many different occasions.
St. Eunan’s Band steadily improved musically in recent years which is mostly due in becoming members of the Irish Pipe Band Association, when a Branch was formed in the North West in 1979. Within the Association many Pipe Band competitions are held all over Ireland, thus making the standard of piping and drumming much higher, and gives the Bands a keen interest in competing. These competitions are judged by the very best Pipers and Drummers in the world, St. Eunan’s can boast of a good few successes in these competitions at the lower level, but like many other bands, would hope that someday they could improve enough to be able to compete in the higher grades. The Band have travelled all over Ireland to these competitions, and always felt they did well even though not always among the winners.
Indeed Raphoe Town has been hosts to several outdoor contests held in the eighties and nineties and has for the past number of years, been host to the annual North West Mini Band Championships held on Easter Monday. History was made in 1986 when the All Ireland Pipe Band Championships were held in the grounds of the Royal and Prior Comprehensive School, in which sixty four bands from all over Ireland, North and South took part, these championships were the first ever to be televised when BBC Northern Ireland spent two days filming in the town.
Many past and present members can recall many memorable occasions when the Band travelled to weekend festivals and other events such as Sligo, Manorhamilton, Falcarragh, Gweedore, Letterkenny, Bundoran, Buncrana, Dungloe, Ramelton, ,,,, Portglenone, Burtonport, Glenties and of course Dublin city and many others. An outstanding highlight came on the night of 25th September 1992 when along with St. Eunan’s Youth Band they paraded the first Donegal Senior All Ireland winning football team with the Sam Maguire cup into the Diamond in Raphoe, where a large crowd had gathered to witness that historic occasion.
Over the past few years the Band has developed a nice blend of youth and experience, as it is felt that the longterm future lies with recruiting more school children; and with expert tuition, encourage them to become competent pipers and drummers. A pleasant feature of the current Band is that a good few members can trace family relationships back to the original Band, and hopefully this trend will continue as the Band marches towards the second millennium.
N.B. My thanks are due to the late Joe Porter whose extracts from the fortieth anniversary book ” A Brief History” have been used again on this occasion.
