Martin Beirne uilleann

Lives of the Pipers Home

Martin Beirne

performer, bandleader; commercial recordings exist

b. Frenchpark, Co. Roscommon, Ireland Nov. 9, 1909
d. Tucson, Arizona Oct. 3, 1976


Martin Beirne, circa 1936. From Pat Killalea, courtesy Irish Traditional Music Archive, published in An Píobaire vol. 11 no. Feb. 2015 pp. 26-27.


Martin Beirne c. 1970? From the Busby collection of photos at Na Píobairí Uilleann


Martin Beirne was one of the last North American "radio pipers," that is, Irish pipers who appeared regularly on the radio, in an era when radio was king.

Beirne was born in County Roscommon, Ireland. His family emigrated to New Jersey when he was an infant. His father, Martin Sr., was described as a laborer on the incoming ship passenger list, 1910, and as a "Stationary Fireman" for a coal company in the 1920 US Census. A 1931 newspaper article describes Martin Sr. as "a member of the famous Fairymount [Co. Roscommon] fife and drum band at the age of fifteen."

The earliest musical reference to Martin Jr. is from 1930, age 21, when he is listed as member of a committee to organize a benefit program in Newark, NJ, for Brooklyn piper Michael Carney. The 1931 article, mentioned above, said Martin Jr. was a "protege of Michael Carney...." At the time Martin was a member of the County Roscommon Boys, an "Irish orchestra." He played pipes and step-danced with the band. The County Roscommon Boys appeared regularly on radio and were supposedly the first Irish orchestra to appear on broadcast television, on a national hookup, May 13, 1931.

About this time Beirne introduced Paddy Lavin, also born in Roscommon, to Michael Carney. Lavin became one of Carney's best piping students.

By 1932, described as "a nationally known Irish piper and dancer," he was doing engagements out of state. By 1933 he was leader of his Irish Blackbirds Orchestra and playing on the radio. In the 1930s he had a long relationship with the Innisfail Ballrooms, 220 East 56th Street, Manhattan. The band played there regularly for seven years. The tunes were Irish traditional for the most part, the arrangements were "modern," peppy, and Beirne doubled on pipes and saxophone. A career highlight was a coast-to-coast national broadcast on the NBC radio network, St. Patrick's Day 1936. Later promotional material claimed he participated in "over 220 American broadcasts...."

Commercial recordings - 78rpm records - followed, recorded in 1936 and 1938 for the Columbia and Vocalion labels. Most are with the Orchestra; at least one, "The Grand Spy," is pipes and piano only.

He was married by 1934. The couple visited Ireland May-Sept. 1936. The 1940 US Census gives his marital status as "M" but that is scratched through, perhaps with "no."

Such activity and apparent prosperity during the economic depression was remarkable. But there was an impulsive aspect to his character. In July 1939 he was sentenced to six months in jail for stealing a car on Long Island. He was "accused of taking an auto that was left running in a driveway in Syosset," NY. The jury recommended leniency but the judge "said Beirne had been in trouble several times before and deserved the jail sentence...." One article about Beirne mentions a "ferocious temper."

By 1942 he was referred to as the former leader of the Blackbirds and his career as full time musician was apparently over. He worked as a policeman in Stamford, Connecticut. He was in the US Navy in World War II, a Boatswain's Mate Petty Officer 1st Class, with principal duties as a boilermaker. After the war he worked for the city of Newark, NJ as a "stationary engineer," someone who manages or maintains power generating equipment.

In the 1950s and 60s Beirne concentrated on "song writing, reed making for pipes, short story writing and research on Irish History." He continued to perform on radio and TV. He apparently had some success selling his songs, for he was "admitted to membership in the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers" circa 1965.

In 1974 he announced that he was "retiring from Irish music performing after 35 years." Beirne donated his rare collection of books on Irish music to the Irish American Society in Mineola, Long Island. He sold his pipes about this time to Tom Standeven of Philadelphia.

Beirne retired from his job in Newark in 1972 and moved to Waynesboro, Virginia, USA. According to Nicholas Carolan he trained as a psychic there. Not long after he moved to Tucson, Arizona where, Carolan says, he "was in practice as a Tarot card reader...." He died Oct. 3, 1976 and is buried at Evergreen Memorial Park, Tucson.


Selected References

Carolan, Nicholas "Martin Beirne, Uilleann Piper, and his Irish Blackbirds Orchestra" An Píobaire vol. 11 no. 1 Feb. 2015 pp. 26-7. With a discography.
https://pipers.ie/source/media/?galleryId=1035&mediaId=26316

Costello, Jack "What .... Jack Costello .... Says" [Martin Beirne as protege of Michael Carney, appearances as piper and step-dancer with the County Roscommon Boys] NY Advocate May 9, 1931 p. 8 column 2
New York NY Irish American Advocate 1930-1931 - 0817.pdf

Hudson, David Stuart "The Irish Play Bagpipes, Too" [retired 1972, living in Waynesboro, VA] Harrisonburg VA Daily News-Record March 17, 1973 p. 5 column 1
Access Newspaper Archive

"The Irish Bagpipe" NY Advocate June 15, 1974 p. 16 column 4
New York NY Irish American Advocate 1974 - 0414.pdf

Kelly, Michael The Irishtown Piper: the life and musical world of Michael Carney (1872-1938) of Brooklyn Irishtown Heritage Group, Irishtown, Co. Mayo 2023 72 p. [Martin Beirne as Carney protege, introduced Lavin to Carney p. 46]

"Orchestra Leader Gets 60-Day Term" Brooklyn [NY] Eagle July 21, 1939 p. 9 column 5
Brooklyn NY Daily Eagle 1939 Grayscale - 6195.pdf

Reitmann, Kevin "The Grand Spy - The Tale of a Tune" The Pipers' Review vol. 28 no. 4 Autumn 2009 pp. 14-16
https://pipers.ie/source/media/?galleryId=1036&mediaId=26415

Untitled article. NY Advocate Aug. 28, 1965 p. 1 column 2
New York NY Irish American Advocate 1965 a - 0795.pdf
With photo, "NBC Studios Coast to Coast Broadcast March 17, 1936"

Nick Whitmer
July 2018 additions 2022, 2023