Irish Thunder Pipes and Drums
For many of them, it will be their very first trip to Ireland.
But what a way to go, as members and friends of a gen-u-wine Irish-American bagpipe band, and one of the most popular in the Delaware Valley at that.
Seventeen members of Irish Thunder Pipes and Drums will be heading to the Dingle Peninsula in Ireland’s wild southwest to take part in the Pan Celtic Festival. With friends and family, 78 people altogether are going on this trip.
The Pan Celtic Festival is a huge gathering of clans from Ireland, Scotland, Wales … anywhere there are Celts. The festival takes place from April 26 through May 1. The Irish Thunder band will march in the Parade of all Celtic Nations through Dingle Town on Friday night the 29th, says Pete Hand, the band’s drum major.
The last time the maroon-kilted band traveled to Ireland, it was in July of 2000, for the All-Ireland Pipe Band Competition in Kilkenny. So, says Hand, this journey has been a long time coming. Members of the band have talked about a return for several years, but plans for this year’s trip crystalized over the hot dogs and potato salad at the annual band picnic last year.
“We’re getting excited now … we’re getting closer,” says Hand, who leads the band.
“It’s the first time (traveling to Ireland) for me,” adds Hand. “It’s the first time for a few of the other guys, too. It’s gonna be great ..I think its really going to be fun.”
Irish Thunder won’t be the only pipe band in the parade, but they’ll be one of the few carrying an American flag. “I’m sure we’ll be playing some American tunes that they don’t normally hear over there,” he says.
Of course, there will be plenty of time for sight-seeing as well. The travelers will do the obligatory Ring of Kerry, take in the white-knuckle view (1,300 feet above sea level) from Conor Pass, and visit the Cliffs of Moher.
Hand also notes that in Dingle, a town of 1,300 when nothing else is going on, there are 52 pubs. Band members are likely to belly up to the bar in, oh, a few of them. Says Hand: “We might have a contest.”
