Garret Barry (piper) facts for kids
Garrett Barry (born March 27, 1847 – died April 6, 1899) was a famous blind Irish musician. He played the uilleann pipes, a type of Irish bagpipes. Garrett was from Inagh, County Clare, and was one of the most well-known pipers in the 1800s.
He was born during the Great Famine, a very difficult time in Ireland. Garrett lost his eyesight when he was a young child due to illness. It was common for blind children then to learn music to earn a living. So, Garrett learned to play the uilleann pipes. This helped him make money and find his place in the community. He became a popular and respected musician, traveling around his region to play at house dances.
Garrett Barry inspired many later pipers, including Willie Clancy. Many tunes are still played today that are linked to him. These include ‘Garrett Barry's Jig’, ‘The Humours of Gl(e)in’, and ‘I Buried My Wife and Danced on Top of Her’.
Garrett Barry's Early Life
Garrett Barry was born in rural Ireland during the Great Famine. Most of what we know about him comes from stories passed down by people. There are no official records of his birth. We only have a record of his death at age 52. But he made a big impression on the people of west County Clare. They remembered him as a traveling musician. His family said he grew up on a farm in Kylea, Inagh. This area was known as Garraí na Saileog, or the Garden of Willows. One tune linked to Barry is even named after this place.
Garrett lost his sight when he was a baby. He got sick with a disease common at that time, possibly chickenpox or smallpox. People in his community believed that because he couldn't see, he developed amazing hearing. They also said he had a wonderful memory and other talents. The Inagh area kept its strong Irish culture, including the Irish language, poetry, songs, music, and dance. Like most blind children back then, Garrett had to learn musical skills to support himself. He quickly became known as a great singer and a talented player of the Irish bagpipes.
When Garrett was a teenager, a respected poet and teacher named Seamus Mac Cruitín ran a hedge school near the Barry farm. A hedge school was an informal outdoor school. MacCurtin was said to be the last in a long line of famous poets. He taught local children many subjects. People say Garrett Barry sometimes played music for this school. He likely learned a lot about culture from MacCurtin. It's also possible Garrett traveled in County Kerry when he was younger. An old neighbor said Garrett learned from a Kerry piper. Some of the music and style from that region might have been part of his playing.
His Music Career
In the late 1800s, many small farmers became more successful. This meant they had more time for fun activities. Garrett Barry traveled around west Clare as a musician. Even though he was blind and travel was hard, he was very good at finding families to stay with. House-dancing became very popular. So, someone with Garrett's skills was in high demand. He was a singer, storyteller, and even a genealogist (someone who studies family history).
His music was especially important at events like weddings. He also played at "American wakes." These were sad but sweet parties held the night before someone left to move to America. Emigration was a common and difficult part of life in Ireland. Garrett's fame grew so much that some families would compete to host him for long periods. They would also arrange his travel when he needed to move on. Local stories also say he was a great fiddle player. He would share music with other local musicians.
Several musical families in west Clare, especially around Miltown Malbay, knew Garrett Barry well. These included the Bourkes, Carrolls, Crehans, Lenihans, and Clancys. Garrett had a strong influence on Gilbert Clancy, who was younger than him. Other musicians who knew Barry when they were young included Thady Casey, Hugh Curtin, and Nell Galvin. Gilbert Clancy later taught his son, Willie, about Garrett's music. Willie Clancy was born almost 20 years after Garrett died. But many believe Willie played with much of Garrett's style because of his father's teaching.
After the Great Famine, new dance styles from Europe came to rural communities. Traveling teachers called "dancing masters" taught these new dances. Traditional Irish jigs, reels, and hornpipes were partly replaced by the polka, waltz, mazurka, and schottische. The quadrille, a group dance, became the start of modern Irish set dancing. As a professional musician, Garrett Barry was expected to play for all these dances. But he famously said, "my music is not for the feet but for the soul." He played slow, sad tunes and some jigs in his own special way. This showed a different side of his music. He was also known for singing Irish songs in the sean-nós style. This is an old, fancy, free-form way of singing in Gaelic.
Garrett Barry had strong political beliefs. People said "his music was his nationalism." Stories say he met and played for Charles Stewart Parnell, a very important politician of his time. Huge crowds would gather at Parnell's rallies in County Clare and other places. Parnell led the Irish National Land League. This group fought for the rights of tenant farmers and fair rents. Later, his Irish Parliamentary Party worked for Irish self-government within Great Britain.
Later Years
Being a traveling musician was hard work. In late 1896, Garrett Barry went into the Ennistymon Infirmary. This was part of the Poor Law Union workhouse, which helped people who were poor or sick. Garrett smoked a clay pipe and chewed tobacco. He was diagnosed with mouth cancer. He stayed there until he died almost three years later. Gilbert Clancy, who had moved to America, came back just before Garrett Barry died. Stories say Gilbert made Garrett's coffin. He brought Garrett's body back to Inagh cemetery for burial. But the exact spot of his grave is still unknown and debated locally.
Sadly, Garrett Barry was never recorded playing music. The first recordings of Irish piping were made on wax cylinders during the last two years of his life. These were made at music competitions organized by Conradh na Gaeilge, or the Gaelic League. Other blind pipers, like Denis Delaney and Michael ‘Cumbaw’ O’Sullivan, were among the first to be recorded. You can find these recordings in the archive of Na Píobairí Uilleann.
His Lasting Impact
The fact that people in his home region remembered Garrett Barry for so long shows how much he affected their culture. In the late 1950s, a broadcaster named Ciarán Mac Mathúna collected many stories about Barry. One story was about Garrett Barry meeting a fairy changeling. Similar stories have been told in the area since then. This means Garrett was a very familiar and popular person in his community. He became part of the local folklore. When a real person becomes part of folk tales, it shows how important they were to the culture.
Garrett Barry was the last traveling piper from County Clare. His main contribution was carrying the piping tradition from after the Famine into the 1900s. Even Willie Clancy, who learned much of Barry's music from his father Gilbert, had never actually heard the Irish pipes played. But in 1936, Johnny Doran, a traveling piper, came to the area. He made people interested in the pipes again. Willie Clancy and his friend Martin Talty decided to learn the instrument. When Willie Clancy died in 1973, the Willie Clancy Summer School was started. This school helps teach and share the growing worldwide love for the Irish uilleann pipes.
Today, a few dance tunes are still named after "the blind piper of Inagh." These include Garrett Barry's Jig, Garrett Barry's Reel, and Garrett Barry's Mazurka. We don't know for sure if Barry wrote these tunes himself. But because they carry his name, they must have been strongly linked to his music. This shows his unique ability to make old tunes new again.
Even with his talent and influence, Garrett Barry is surprisingly not in Francis O’Neill's famous book, Irish Minstrels and Musicians (1913). This book includes many pipers from the 1700s to the early 1900s. O’Neill worked for the Chicago City Police Force from 1873 to 1905. He met many Irish immigrants who gave him information about their music. Much of the return of Irish traditional music in the 1900s came from O’Neill's collections of tunes. Perhaps Garrett Barry mostly played at private events and stayed with families. This might mean fewer people outside his isolated community in west Clare met him. However, during Garrett Barry's life, the population of County Clare fell by almost half due to emigration. Many of these people went to the United States. Interestingly, the last picture in O’Neill's book shows an unknown piper. This piper looks like the descriptions of Garrett Barry. The picture, called ‘Lay of the Last Minstrel’, likely came from an old photograph.
See also
- Cormac de Barra
- Martin O'Reilly, died 1904
- Tarlach Mac Suibhne, fl. 1893
- Donell Dubh Ó Cathail, harper to Elizabeth I, c. 1560s – c.1660
