John Egan

performer

b. Dunmore, Co. Galway, Ireland about 1843
d. Manhattan, NYC Sep. 29, 1893

The cover for the Harrigan's Hibernian Tourist Songster a 32 page booklet about six and a half inches tall. It contains mostly lyrics to songs. Published by the New York Popular Publishing Co., probably 1885. Courtesy of the New York Public Library.

John Egan was well respected and well known as a piper in his day. Today he is known to only a few, and principally as a teacher of Pat Touhey (1865-1923), the most successful of the vaudeville pipers. Egan was also Touhey's mentor in show business, and introduced him to that irregular and itinerant way of life.

Egan (sometimes spelled Eagan) was born in Dunmore, Co. Galway, probably around 1840. According to a death certificate his parents were John and Briget Egan. It is not known for sure when he emigrated to the United States. Henry Mercer, who met Egan, wrote in 1886 that he "has been in America 20 years...." He was known by some as "The Albino Piper," and Mercer described him as "a heavily built man - nearly blind, & an albino - with white eyelashes & kindly[?] eyes and had a very elaborate set of pipes, which he said had been made for him by the celebrated maker William Taylor...." Despite periods of time when he travelled for theatrical or vaudeville engagements, he seemed to prefer staying in New York City, in the Lower East Side and the Devil's Kitchen neighborhoods, both of them densely populated and with many Irish and Irish Americans.

There are several John Egans listed in the New York City Directories, 1860-1900. Only one is listed as musician. Interestingly, he is first listed in the 1866/67 directory, which matches Mercer's comment, "in America 20 years." A John Egan is listed on and off for the next 21 years, sometimes as musician, sometimes as "liquors," mostly on Cherry Street, Lower East Side. These listings may be for Egan the piper, or may not. But in 1885 Egan gave his address to Mercer as 79 Montgomery St., Lower East Side, and this matches city directory listings for John Egan, musician, 1884-87. Mercer had a later address for Egan, 450 West 32nd St, that matched the 1892 city directory entry. These congruencies suggest, but do not prove, that all the directory entries, 1866 to the last one, 1893, were for the same man.

The 1880 US Census lists John Egan, age 35, occupation musician, at 300 Cherry Street, with wife Mary, age 24, and three sons and a daughter.

Egan told a newspaper reporter in 1891 that he had been piping since '51. He played the pipes set up left-handed. Francis O'Neill says that 'he studied pipe music under the instruction of William Connolly the elder [of Galway], familiarly known as "Liam Dall," or "Blind William," and also from the latter's grandson, John Burke....' Mercer writes that "he played by ear entirely...."

An article in the Jersey City [New Jersey] News, July 1894, says that Egan furnished music for events sponsored by St. Joseph's Parish, Jersey City, "for the last eighteen years." That would be from 1876 or so.

Earliest solid references to Egan as a performer are from 1879. "Conway and Egan" played variety and vaudeville houses 1879-81. Neal Conway (1850-1888) was well established as a jig and reel dancer, and Egan supplied the music on Irish pipes. Egan was Conway's third or fourth accompanist, an earlier one being piper Thomas F. Kerrigan.

In 1882 he began a similar partnership with dancer Mike Tracy, which lasted on and off at least until 1887. They sometimes called themselves "the men from Galway, the champion dancers and Irish pipers...."

In an interview, Pat Touhey said he began learning pipes from Egan (and from William Taylor) when he was eleven years old, circa 1876. The relationship between Egan and Touhey must have been good. In 1885 Egan agreed to tour with a traveling variety show, "Harrigan's Double Hibernian Co., Irish and American Tourists," and Touhey was asked to come along as second piper. This was, as far as is known, Touhey's first experience of theatrical life and touring.

Harrigan's Hibernians was part of a nearly forgotten corner of show business and entertainment, the Irish-themed panorama show, or hibernicon. The distingishing feature of these shows was the panorama, a painting, perhaps five feet high and many feet long, rolled up around rods and viewed as a scroll. A hand crank advanced the canvas and images flowed from one side to the other in a frame set up near the rear wall of the stage. These "moving panoramas" were first seen in the early 19th century and reached the height of popularity in the 1840s and 50s. It was often a travelogue, with a lecturer explaining what was seen, sometimes accompanied by a pianist. By 1875 the heyday of regular panoramas had passed, but there was still interest in the Irish-themed variant. In these hibernicons, actors, comedians, dancers and musicians were added to the show. The lecturer became a tour guide, and the other players the tourists, carriage drivers and Irish people encountered on the journey.

If a help-wanted advertisement for the next season, 1886-87, is any indication, Egan and Touhey signed a 40 week contract running from about Monday August 31, 1885 to June 5, 1886. During this time they played one night stands in small towns in the northeast US, as far west as Michigan and south as New Jersey, and many in New York State. As far as can be known, their duties were to play music for the dancers and probably do a piping "specialty" by themselves. One review of the show says that "Pat Toohey and John Eagan played the bagpipes very well, and on a call for repetition Eagan danced to the music of the pipes in a masterly way."

At each town one of the promotional efforts was a Grand Parade through the streets. The parade featured the 'Greatest team of Bagpipes ever from Old Ireland, riding on a Rale Ould Jaunting Car, drawn by Ulster ponies, "Dublin Jackeen" and "Mullingar." '

In this way Henry Mercer heard them play December 8, 1885. Decades later, in a letter to the great music collector Francis O'Neill, Mercer wrote:

I hope that Mr Touhey is still alive and that he has not forgotten, as I never shall for it was my first hearing of the Irish bag pipes the day, in December 1885, when he and John Eagan, the Piper, whom you commemorate sitting in a little jaunting car with a pony played the Joy of my Life and Donnybrook Fair as you have it or as Eagan called it Off to Donnybrook around the streets of our village Doylestown [Pennsylvania] and also how I followed them to the Hotel and afterwards with delight and admiration coaxed them over to my fathers house where they played a long time for me in my room.

Mercer (1856-1930) was from one of the leading families of the town, wealthy and sophisticated. He was Harvard-educated, had travelled abroad several times, and was described as a "gentleman scholar." His enthusiasm for what he was hearing was tolerable, if not winning, and the pipers treated him kindly. Mercer understood Touhey to be Egan's "assistant." They recommended he visit piper and pipemaker William Taylor in Philadelphia, about 27 miles (43 km) distant, and gave him Taylor's address. On such a visit Taylor told him that "he thought that Eagan was the best piper then in America...."

A friendship developed between Mercer and Egan:

My old friend John Eagan I several times heard afterwards and once brought over from New York to a dance which I organised in the studio of the late Edward Stewardson [Edmund Stewardson, sculptor, 1865-1892] on Camac Street [Philadelphia] where he brought down the house with Lord Gordons Reel and the Bucks of Oranmore. Mr Stewardson saying that the to him the latter Reel seemed full of bubbles of fire. I gave Mr Eagan a gold horseshoe scarf pin inscribed "cured of the blues" which he was wearing afterwards in New York when I went to hear him play in a Saloon full of some pretty dangerous highly excited dancing men who did not like my intrusion. But the scarf pin saved me.

There is no evidence that Egan played for the Harrigan's Hibernians after May 1886. Newspapers report a grab-bag of engagements in the following years: theatres, concerts, at saloons, dances, church festivals, on excursions. The last known engagement was "furnishing music" for the annual excursion of the parishioners of St. Joseph's R. C. parish, Jersey City, New Jersey, by boat to Grand View Park on Long Island, July 19, 1893.

Perhaps something about Egan's appearance or manner attracted newspapermen. Three times he was singled out for particular attention.

At Elm Park, New York City, August 11, 1886:

'The jigging talent of the city went to Elm Park in force yesterday. The Ancient Order of Hibernians were having a picnic, and the characteristic Irish dance was indulged in by the hour. The ages of the jiggers ranged from six to sixty. There were other amusements and there were athletic sports, but all were regarded as incidental to the jigging.
'The gates had hardly been opened when a hale and hearty white haired man presented himself for admission.
' "Don't you know me? I'm Egan, the celebrated Irish piper," he said. County Treasurer John Coyle let him and his pipes pass, and then came Bourke and two or three other celebrated Irish pipers and no end of fiddlers. They made their way to a small dancing platform north of the pavilion, evoked ear-splitting screeches from their instruments in the process of tuning and started up a lively tune. A young man with a green badge and a white hat dragged a girl in a white dress on the floor, and in another moment their feet were twinkling as nimbly as the fingers of the musicians. The squeaking of the bagpipes and the fiddles could be heard for blocks. The musicians worked in couples-a piper and a fiddler or two fiddlers together. The jigging was also done in couples. Many a gray haired man and woman whose feet first tapped the floor in unison in the Old Country thirty or forty years ago faced each other on the platform yesterday.'

In 1887 he was described in a remarkable article originally published in the New York Sun and reprinted in several papers throughout the country. The article describes encounters with Egan and with piper Thomas Kerrigan. Here is the part about Egan:

The Irish Pipers.
A Treat in the Way of an Evening of Irish Music.
Weird and Fascinating Strains Played by a Master Hand-Only a Few Old Men Left of the Old Fashioned Pipers.

' "Have you ever heard the Irish bagpipes?"
' "I don't know. They are the same as the Scotch pipes, are they not?"
' "Decidedly not. But if you want a real treat in the way of an evening of Irish music played by an Irishman upon the Irish pipes, meet me this evening at P. B. Egan's Cornucopia. John Egan, who is probably the greatest of living Irish bagpipers, will be there."
'The speaker was a cultured Irish gentleman, himself a fine musician, and an enthusiast in the music of his native land. His evening invitation was accepted. A number of ladies and gentlemen had already assembled upon invitation. The piper and his pipes were likewise there. As the reporter and his friend entered the room the strident tones of the tuning pipes had already set the sound waves in University place to dancing in wild confusion.
'The piper, with head thrown back and eyes cast upward, began the "Conlin." As the weird and fascinating strains, played by a master hand, were heard, all yielded to the influence. Heads, hands and feet responded to the enticements of the air, while the glistening eyes of the natives of Ireland attested the charm which the national music has for Erin's sons.
'Scotch and Irish Pipes.
' "There's history in that tune," said the friend. "The 'Conlin' means "the lad with the flowing locks.' Henry VIII ordered the locks of the Irish to be shorn. After the edict was carried out the Irish were called 'Croppies.' The air, of course, became greatly endeared to the oppressed of Ireland, and has lived to this day, although the original words have been lost."
'While the "Conlin" was being played the reporter had full opportunity to note the difference between the Scotch and Irish pipes. The shrill, piercing quality of the Scotch pipes was lacking. In its place was a more pleasing musical tone. The Scotch pipes can be heard further, but, unlike them, the Irish pipes do not need distance to lend enchantment to the sound.
'Again the pipes were adjusted, and "The Pretty Girl Milking the Cow" was played with all the attractiveness of skill and feeling. "Kathleen Mavourneen" gains a new mournfullness and sweetness when played upon the pipes. "Garry Owen" and "Pat Molloy" are themselves alone when the piper pictures them to the ear. These and many other airs the piper played, all of them joyously or tenderly reminiscent of boyhood's happy days and scenes. Then came the "Blackbird."
' "That's a 'treason' song," said the friend. "The Irish adherents of the Stuarts had a song set to that air. The words were treasonable, from an English point of view, and ere long the air itself was called the same. Many an Irishman has languished for weeks and months in a noisome prison for simply whistling or humming that tune."
'The Music was ended. The green goose with the long neck had collapsed into an empty green silk bag. The dismembered pipes reposed in their case. The white haired piper received the reporter and his congratulations with a friendly greeting and a smile.
' "Yes, sir; these pipes were made in this country by William Taylor, of Philadelphia. They cost $900. Taylor is the only man here who can tune the improved Irish pipes. It cost me $65 to get these pipes tuned. Taylor has made great improvements in the pipes. He has increased their register and has provided a full supply of tones and semi-tones. Any kind of music can be played upon an instrument like this. The pipes in use at home are crude affairs, little suited to anything but jig music." '

Finally, this description of Egan playing for a dance contest, 1893:

They Danced the Merry Irish Jig.
Conroy Won, Though Most of the Sons of Erin Were the Friends of Clancy.

' "Go it, Clancy, yer'll win in a walk."
' "Not in er hundred years. Git on ter the gait on Gilhooley."
' "Clancy'll win. I tell yer he's--"
' "No one but Conroy. Wait till he gets his stride."
'These remarks were cast at a quintet of Irish step dancers who were jigging for honor and a gold medal at the annual ball of the Sons of Erin on Friday night. The Sons of Erin have made it a custom to end the St. Patrick's day festivities with a ball, which was given this year in the hall of the Grand Opera House. The feature of the evening was the contest of jig dancers, and each dancer had a host of friends to cheer him. The music was furnished by Prof. Egan, the famous Irish bagpiper, and the dancers had to keep their legs going pretty rapidly to keep up with him. Everybody who is anybody on the east side knows Prof. Egan. He is an old man, who never has anything to say, and never makes a bit of noise until he gets hold of a bagpipe.
'When everything was ready three strangers were appointed judges.
' "All together!" shouted President Daly, and he signalled Piper Egan to begin. The old man struck up one of those wild Irish jigs which start slowly and end with a rush. The dancers started with the music. Clancy's friends outnumbered those of any other contestant, and they kept encouraging their man all the time.
' "Yer'll win, Clancy," they shouted, and Clancy smiled and cast a scornful glance at his rivals. The dancing had been going on about eight minutes when "Kid" Finn dropped out. "I could stand plain jigs wid any of 'em," explained the "Kid," "but they sprung double flips on me too often. I think Clancy'll win," and the crowd evidently agreed with Mr. Finn.
'One by one the dancers dropped out until only Conroy and Clancy remained. Conroy had started off slowly, while Clancy had been doing "flips" and "double slides" for the benefit of his numerous friends.
'Clancy's legs gradually became weaker. At last he stopped, and Conroy gave an exhibition of heel-and-toe dancing, and then walked over to his friends as fresh as a daisy. Clancy's friends wanted to know whether the prize was for endurance or skill, and on being told it was for skill, demanded that their man get the medal. The judges evidently favored Conroy, but then there were only a few of his friends present. Finally it was decided to leave the awarding of the medal to Prof. Egan. When the Professor was informed of this he jumped up and said:
' "I came here to play me pipe."
' "Yes," yelled the crowd.
' "I played me pipe."
' "Ye did."
' "Then I filled me promise."
' "Yes, you're all right, Professor."
' "Well, then, that's all I'll do. Let yer judges decide."
'The judges finally decided to risk the wrath of Clancy and his friends and awarded the medal to Conroy. Clancy's friends kept saying the rest of the evening: "We was t'rown down. Clancy won in a canter, but they disqualified him."
'Clancy's soreness died away later, and he made friends with Conroy and even examined the medal.'

What of Egan's music? He died before recording technology was readily available. In any case, no recordings are known to exist. Perhaps some clue to his sound can be inferred by recordings of his student Pat Touhey, who recorded as early as 1901.

O'Neill quotes one of his informants, probably Nicholas Burke of New York: "He was a grand player and very powerful in his music." Mercer was most taken with the dance music, and called "Rakish Judy," Egan and Touhey's pet name for "The Green Mountain" or "Maid Behind the Bar," "this liveliest of reels." He also spoke highly of "The Bucks of Oranmore" and "Lord Gordan's Reel," "One of John Eagans very best." O'Neill writes that Touhey was always "eulogistic of his former partner," and suggests that Touhey learned some of his skill on the regulators from Egan.

The last performance reference to Egan is the excursion engagement from July 1893 mentioned above. O'Neill reports that Egan "died in New York City about 1897" but an article in the Jersey City News acknowledges his death before July 1894.

A New York City Death Certificate, almost certainly for the piper, says he died September 28, 1893 at his residence, 510 West 49th Street Manhattan. He was 50 years old, born in Ireland, in the United States for the past 30 years, married, occupation musician. Cause of death was Ulcerative Colitis, complicated by Gastritis. He was buried in "Calvary," probably Calvary Cemetery, Woodside, Queens, NY.

It is not known what became of his Taylor set of pipes.

Selected References

"Catholic News. Jersey City Churches. St. Joseph's Church." [Egan at church festivals from about 1876; his death before this article's publication.] Jersey City [NJ] News July 7, 1894 p. 3 column 1
Library of Congress Chronicling America
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87068097/1894-07-07/ed-1/

"City News Notes." Jersey City NJ Evening Journal July 15, 1893 p. 1 column 6
GenealogyBank.com

"A Day of Jollity." New York Herald Aug. 12, 1886 p. 3 column 6
New York NY Herald 1886 - 0514.pdf

"For Tim Campbell It is a Proud Day." New York Herald Aug. 5, 1891 p. 9 column 5
New York NY Herald 1891 - 3863.pdf

Granshaw Michelle The Hibernicon and Visions of Returning Home: Popular Entertainment in Irish America from the Civil War to World War I Ph. D. dissertation University of Washington 2012 373 p.
http://hdl.handle.net/1773/20658

"The Harrigan Tourists." Oswego [NY] Daily Times-Express April 3, 1886 p. 5 column 3
from microfilm

"Holmes' Standard Museum, NO. 434 Fulton Street." Brooklyn Daily Eagle April 27, 1884 p. 8 column 2 advertisement
Brooklyn NY Daily Eagle 1884 Grayscale - 0632.pdf

"The Irish Bagpipe. Its Present and Future Status as a National Musical Instrument. (Interview with Mr. Patrick Touhey, the celebrated Irish-American Piper.)" Irish World July 13, 1901 p. 8 column 7
Genealogybank.com
Reprinted in An Píobaire vol. 9 no. 5 Dec. 2013 pp. 27-28
https://pipers.ie/source/media/?galleryId=1018&mediaId=26059

"The Irish Pipers" Ogdensburg [NY] Advance and St. Laurence Weekly Democrat June 9, 1887 p. 3 column 4
http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn83031423/1887-06-09/ed-1/seq-3/

Mercer, Henry, letter to Francis O'Neill Aug. 27, 1920. From the Collection of the Mercer Museum Library of the Bucks County Historical Society, Doylestown, PA.

Odell, George C. D. Annals of the New York Stage Columbia Univ. Press 1938-1942
References to Egan (also spelled Eagan) in volumes X through XIII

O'Neill, Francis Irish Minstrels and Musicians Chicago 1913 p. 236

Ryans Mammoth Collection 1050 Reels and Jigs published by Elias Howe copyright 1883. (L Mer 781.7) Henry Mercer's copy, with his notes and comments. From the Collection of the Mercer Museum Library of the Bucks County Historical Society, Doylestown, PA.

"They Danced the Merry Irish Jig." New York Sun March 19, 1893 p. 7 column 2
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030272/1893-03-19/ed-1/seq-7/

"Tuesday Evening, January 25, Harrigan's Double Hibernian Company!" Auburn [NY] Bulletin Jan. 24, 1887 p. ? column 5 advertisement
Newspaper Auburn NY Daily Bulletin 1887 - 0078.PDF

Nick Whitmer
July 2018 additions Jan. 2019