Uillleann Pipes is a kind of Irish Bagpipe and were initially known as Union Pipes. They are said to be the sweetest and most melodious sounding of the bagpipe varieties. Traditional highland bagpipes that most people know of differ slightly from the Uilleann pipes. They are more similar to the Northumbrian contemporary pipes instead of the Scottish Pipes. People often associate bagpipes with the image of the Scottish highlands and men playing them wearing kilts. Very few know about the variety of bagpipes that are actually available and originating from different countries like Germany, France, Scotland, Ireland, Belgium, Austria etc. Each kind has the ability to create different sounds that are quite distinctive from one another and are known under different names.

Here are some facts to know about Uilleann Pipes.

The name of the Uilleann pipes has been derived from the Irish term ‘˜Uilleann’ which means ‘œelbow’.

A typical set of Uilleann pipes consist of three drones and 3 pipes overlaying the drones. They look similar to organ pipes.

Uilleann pipes have bellows which help produce the music, thereby requiring no blowing unlike the Scottish Bagpipes where blowing through the mouthpiece is itself a difficult task.

Due to the different structure of Uilleann Bagpipes, the tone of music produced by them also differs considerably. The sound is mellower and can cover two full octaves thereby giving the instrument a greater sound range. However, they are not very loud with sound levels comparable to that of a fiddle or accordion.

The history of the creation and origin of bagpipes can be traced back to as far as 1300 BC when it is believed, Nero, the Roman Emperor made use of this musical instrument.

Post 1000 AD, there is records of the bagpipes being used and even has illustrations in literature like Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. Uilleann pipes in particular date back to the beginnings of 18th century when they were played both in England and Ireland. However it is said to have not been able survive for long in England and continued to remain solely traditional to Ireland.

Uilleann pipes are a popular instrument used for playing traditional folk songs.

Apart from being used in folk songs, Uilleann pipes have found use in the Irish song band U2’s music recordings on several occasions.
Irish folk music continues to remain popular to the present day and is enjoyed by people with equal enthusiasm as they used to be heard earlier. Irish folk take pride in their tradition of folk songs.

Uilleann bagpipes these days are much smaller and different from the original Irish bagpipes that used to be manufactured many centuries ago. In fact, those bagpipes were more similar to the Scottish highland Bagpipes. There is little information about how they underwent change to be formed into what we see today.

Irish bagpipe music is distinctive and can be identified to be different from all other musical instruments. There is definitely no way one can confuse them with the sounds of the highland bagpipes. They are also very difficult to master because of its mechanical workings, and also difficult to avail of one.