Irish minstrels and musicians: with numerous dissertations on related subjects By Francis O’Neill

Francis O’Neill (1848–1936) was an Irish musician and music collector from Co. Cork who emigrated to the U.S. and eventually became the chief of police of Chicago. He is best known for his seminal tune collection “O’Neill’s Music of Ireland.”

But O’Neill was also a highly prolific and very entertaining prose writer. His “Irish Minstrels and Musicians,” published in 1913, is one of the best sources we have for anecdotal information about Irish piping in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

I just learned that this important work has become available in its entirety on Google books. You can now download it for free here.

“Irish Minstrels and Musicians” is a wonderful read for anyone who is interested in the history of the pipes or in the history of Irish music in general.

O’Neill’s other major prose work, “Irish Folk Music: A Fascinating Hobby,” also recently came back into print and is now available for purchase from Amazon.

This second O’Neill book contains many interesting anecdotes about O’Neill’s collecting experiences and has more information about old pipers he knew or had heard of. Appendix A contains O’Farrell’s Treatise and Instructions on the Irish Pipes, published circa 1797-1800. Appendix B contains Hints to Amateur Pipers by Patsy Touhey.