Joe Shannon uilleann

Lives of the Pipers Home

Joe Shannon

fireman, piper; commercial and private recordings exist

b. Treenabontry, County Mayo January 1, 1916
d. Batavia, Illinois December, 26, 2004


West Side Irish Set for Gala St. Patrick's Celebrations
"[photo caption] Joe Shannon, 5523 Flournoy, gets ready to sound Irish bag pipes which will send dancers (left to right) Patrick Walsh, 10, 3333 Van Buren; Joan Fitzpatrick, 10, 806 S. Keeler, and Thomas Walsh, 9, into fast stepping Irish jig. Group will perform at St. Patrick's celebration to be given by United Irish groups, at 8 p.m. Monday in McEnery hall, 4039 Madison. Tom Tracey and his orchestra will play for Irish and American dancing. (Staff Photo)"
Chicago IL Garfieldian March 12, 1952 p. 7G column 4
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Joe Shannon was one of the few people who took up the Irish or uilleann pipes in the early 1930s, despite its declining popularity, and kept playing through the 1940s and 50s, the leanest years for this instrument. He was active long enough to witness its revival later in the 20th century and to be honored for his skills as a player and for his generosity as supporter of its music.

Shannon spent most of his life in Chicago. His greatest musical influences were pipers Pat Touhey and Tom Ennis. Shannon took up the pipes about 1932. Initially he had help from Chicago musician Paddy Doran, who provided him with a practice set, and pipemaker Patrick Hennelly, who gave basic instruction and later made him a full set. He may also have been helped by Edward Mullaney (1884-1971), an experienced piper and second cousin to Shannon, and by Charles Mack (1868-1961), a piper once active in vaudeville. In later years Shannon said he learned by repeated listening to 78 records of Touhey and Ennis. Sean Ryan, a friend of Shannon's, said that Shannon would play along with the records for hours at a time.

The result was solid piping in the "American" style, as with Touhey, Barney Delaney and others: triplets, staccato, double-cut rolls, etc.; quick and propulsive. During the years Shannon was active it was an unusual style. He seemed to be a last practitioner of this way of playing, and with a few exceptions, it was not until the 21st century that another generation of players began to pursue it.

Accounts of his life suggest that he was willing to perform publicly in the 1930s and 40s. In 1934 he played with the Harp and Shamrock Orchestra at the Irish Village at the Chicago World's Fair. There he met Francis O'Neill, the great music collector. At the time Shannon was aware that this man was the former Chicago Chief of Police, but did not know about his contributions to Irish music. O'Neill asked him to play a hornpipe and gave Shannon an inscribed copy of one of his books. Shannon played in taverns, for dances and at gatherings of Irish-Americans. For example, in 1946 and 47 he played during the concerts at "Irish Day," enormous outings to observe Our Lady Day in Harvest.

Joe Shannon married Mary Cunningham in 1943. They had thirteen children. Family life and work life limited his time for performance. Writing in 1978, Lawrence McCullough also suggested that, since Shannon "no longer drinks alcoholic beverages," he wanted to avoid "venues where the chief and sometimes only payment is in drink." For many years he played only at home, or with friends, or occasionally at "informal music sessions."

In 1967 or 1971 Edward Mullaney bequeathed a remarkable set of pipes to Shannon (some sources say Mullaney handed over the pipes when he could no longer play them; Mullaney's granddaughter recalls them being given to Shannon after Mullaney died). The set was made by the Taylor brothers of Philadelphia for Chicago piper John K. Beatty, probably in the 1880s. It is one of the Taylor's most elaborate and impressive productions. The set reignited Shannon's enthusiasm for piping. In 1978, about 61 years old, he told Lawrence McCullough that "he plays with greater agility and spirit now than at any other time in his life."

Despite his reluctance to play in public he became well known in Irish music circles. He was generous and hospitable to visitors at his home. Tunes in his kitchen were well-remembered.

By the 1970s Shannon had come to the attention of a few academics and administrators of folk festivals. In 1976 he played his first public engagement outside of Chicago, at the Smithsonian Institution's Festival of American Folklife in Washington D.C. Other engagements followed. Lawrence McCullough wrote of him at length in his PhD dissertation, 1978. In 1980 Mick Moloney recorded and produced a LP record, "The Noonday Feast," of Shannon and his old friend Johnny McGreevy playing pipes and fiddle in the kitchen.

In 1983 the National Endowment for the Arts, a US government agency, awarded Shannon a National Heritage Fellowship as a Master of Traditional Art. He was awarded the title of Patron by Na Píobairí Uilleann in 2003.

Shannon travelled to Ireland at least four times, three of them to appear at the Willie Clancy Summer School, from 1986 to 1993.

At age 22, Shannon was described in an immigration document as 5 feet 11 inches tall, 170 pounds, blue eyes, reddish hair. Acquaintances recall him as big, broad-shouldered, with a crushing handshake. He played football and baseball as a young man and was a talented baseball pitcher.

Shannon grew up in County Mayo. His father died when he was a boy. Shannon emigrated to the United States in 1930 with his mother Ellen and they joined his brothers already in Chicago. Shannon became a US Citizen in 1941. He worked at a few jobs including security guard and truck driver before being hired as a Chicago fireman in 1951. He retired in 1979.

Shannon played music in public until about 2001. He broke his hip in 2003 and moved in with his daughter in Batavia, Illinois. Shannon died of skin cancer Dec. 26, 2004, age 88. He was buried at All Saints Cemetery, Des Plaines, Illinois.


Note: a great deal of information is available about Joe Shannon; articles, interviews, recordings, videos. Among the best: the remembrance by Jim McGuire, "The Friendly Visit" in An Píobaire; the obituary by Hal Dardick from the Chicago Tribune and the "Masters of Traditional Arts" webpage for Joe Shannon, with biography and links to concert footage and recordings:
http://mastersoftraditionalarts.org/artists/299


Selected References

"10,000 Expected to Attend Annual Irish Day Friday" Chicago IL Auburn Parker Aug. 13, 1947 p. 1 column 2
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Dardick, Hal "JOSEPH G. SHANNON, 88" [obituary; Liz Carroll quote; became fireman in 1951] Chicago [IL] Tribune Dec. 29, 2004
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2004-12-29-0412290104-story.html

"Firemen Halt Thief With Flying Tackle" [Shannon tackles fleeing robber; played football] Chicago IL Garfieldian Sep. 10, 1952 p. 1 column 6
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Gavin, Sean "Uilleann Piping in Chicago" Notes and Narratives lecture July 19, 2018 at Na Píobairí Uilleann, Dublin [play along with records for hours; 21st century players of the "American" style; set to Shannon after Mullaney's death; was talented baseball pitcher; a crushing handshake]
http://pipers.ie/source/media/?galleryId=860&mediaId=30539

"Joe Shannon and Johnny McGreevy" The Long Note radio program broadcast on RTÉ Raidió Teilifís Éireann 1990? [interview with Shannon; started pipes about 1932; second cousin Mullaney; learned from records; knew of O'Neill only as Police Chief]

McCullough, Lawrence E. Irish Music in Chicago: an ethnomusicological study by Lawrence E. McCullough, PhD dissertation, University of Pittsburgh, 1978 pp. 135-37 [Mullaney gives set to Shannon in 1967; plays with greater spirit and agility]; 264-66 [early playing in public; does not drink; help from Charles Mack, also known as Charley McNurney; informal music sessions; first gig outside of Chicago]

McGuire, Jim "The Friendly Visit" An Píobaire vol. 4 no. 29 Feb. 2005 photo p. 1 articles pp. 8-10
https://pipers.ie/source/media/?galleryId=1013&mediaId=26015
another version of this article is at Na Píobairí Uilleann's webpage honoring Shannon as NPU Patron
https://pipers.ie/about/patrons/joe-shannon/

Piggott, Richie Cry of a People Gone: Irish Musicians in Chicago 1920-2020 [more biographical detail, additional photos] St. Charles, IL Cnocanglas Productions LLC 2022 pp. 110-15

Shannon, Joe & Johnny McGreevy "The Noonday Feast" 1980 LP phonograph record
Green Linnet SIF 1023
Produced and recorded and liner notes by Mick Moloney.

Nick Whitmer
March 2020, addition Nov. 2022