Fintan Lalor pipe band

Hello JF, I am the volunteer in Drogheda about 20 miles north of Swords and am not sure if there is a Swords volunteer, I am taking the chance to answer as I was born and reared in Swords until the mid 1960s when I left as a teenager and saw the band play. I do not recognise the name however but think if you put the photo up on Facebook page for Swords Down Memory Lane there should be someone to identify the various people, it is a private page you apply to join, now while a lot of stuff is back to the 1960s and further there is mainly from the 1980s on but I see a good few people I went to school with on it so you should get some information, a lot of these type of pages are very good at that as people like the challange and debate the people etc

You could also try the library as the Swords branch is the local histroy section, https://www.fingal.ie/fingallibraries , they may access the local paper for the time whihc was the Drogheda Independent now the Fingal Independent, fairly sure it would be in the paper for the record launch etc

Good Luck

Pat

Hello Jeff, I only came across your post by accident when looking for some information on past members of Fintan Lalor Pipe Band (the Fints) that I played with. Your grandfather John Solan I do not remember ever hearing of, but I do remeber much talk of the famous and great Paddy Solan. One of my tutors when I played with the Rathcoole & District Pipe Band was Pipe Major Tim Keogh who took over as PM with the Fints when Paddy Solan left. I later left the Rathcoole PB and joined the Fints, and during my time there had the honour of playing first as a piper and later as Pipe Sergeant until my retirement. There is a very interesting article on the following website 'pipingpress.com/?s=fintan+lalor' (I am not permitted to post web links so you can just copy my text and add https:// in front of it)  where you can enter a search for Fintan Lalor Pipe Band about the history of the the Fints, there is 5 separate sections so make sure you read them all. I feature in the final section and I am in the picture back row second last (C Hanlon).

You asked about the record cover and identifying your grandfather, from what I can see the record was made after he left as he or Paddy Solan are not mentioned on the list of names. You can see the record cover here  pipingpress.com/2021/06/04/pipe-band-history-fintan-lalor-enjoy-success-under-p-m-tim-keogh/ , again just add https:// in front of the  text link

I hope I have been of assistance to you.

Best regards

Canice Hanlon.

Hi Jeff

I'm coming to this conversation very late so I hope you will see this reply.  My father was a member of the Fintan Lalor Pipe Band and played with the Solan brothers.  The band made two records - "Irish Bagpipes" and "Bagpipe Music of the Gaels".  But I think the Solans had already emigrated to the US when those albums were made so I doubt they appear in the cover photos.  However, I have an old photo of the band taken at the All-Ireland Pipe Band Competition in 1952 (which I think the Band won).  It features Paddy and John Solan.  I'm going to attempt to upload it.  The Solans are standing beside one another on the extreme left - Paddy first from left and Joh second.  My father, Gerry O'Brien, is the next piper along, beside your grandfather (another non-playing band member looks in between them).  I hope this helps.

Best wishes

Dermot O'Brien

Dermot,

Thank you so much for the post and the photo!!!  I was so excited to see it and have a picture of my grandfather!  God Bless!

Sincerely,

Jeff Solan

I really appreciate the posts.  I figured I would add this picture to the conversation to see if anyone knew who was in the photo and what the context might have been.

Thanks!

Jeff

Hello again Jeff

I recognise that photo.  I have a copy which is captioned "1st Prize Quartette Piping Contest January 1941".  I don't know who the two gentlemen on the left are but the three pipers are (from left) Tim Keogh, Paddy Solan and Gerry O'Brien.  The latter, as I mentioned in my earlier post, was my father.  As Canice Hanlon said in his post, Tim Keogh took over as pipe major in the Fintan Lalors when Paddy Solan emigrated.  Tim was my mother's brother.  He was a very talented musician and was an excellent violin player as well as a piper.  He also composed music for the bagpipes.  One of his compositions was "The One and Only" in honour of Paddy Solan who went by that nickname.

I believe that a quartette comprised of three pipers and a drummer and it looks as if the pipers were presented with practice chanters as their prize.

I found another photo you may be interested in.  It is labelled "All-Ireland Pipe Band Contest 1952, Paddy Solan's last parade".  The three pipers shown (from left) are my father Gerry O'Brien, your grandfather John Solan and your granduncle Paddy Solan.  You'll note Paddy has tyhe fpour stripes of the Pipe Major on his arm.

Best wishes

Dermot

Hello again Jeff

I was looking again at the "quartette" photo you posted on 12 April and I now think the piper in the middle of the three is your grandfather John Solan, not his brother Paddy as I said.  I found another picture (taken in 1938, I think) which shows, in the middle on either side of the drums, John Solan and my father Gerry O'Brien.Paddy Solan stands on the extreme left.  I think you can see that John in this photo is the same man as in the "quartette" picture.

All the best

Dermot