FOR the past four years the last of the trad tunes of the year in East Durham belonged to a dedicated group of musicians who assembled in late fall to share their singular obsession, the playing of the Irish bagpipes or uilleann (elbow) pipes.

When the Northeast Piping Tionol convened this past weekend at Gavin's Golden Hill Resort for workshops, sessions and a master Saturday evening concert along with camaraderie, there were over 65 pipers from the U.S. and Canada who made their way to the event joined by an additional 15 fiddlers who were also catered to in the programming along with the pipers.

One of many tionols where the pipes are paramount, it is always fascinating to see so many pipers in one place, and the Saturday evening concert was a joy to listen to as Gavin's lounge was filled to the brim for the four hour performance.

Piper Patrick D'Arcy from Dublin originally and now one of the leading pipers on the West Coast, and organizer of the West Coast Tionol, led off the festivities emceed in fine fashion by piper and reed maker Benedict Koehler. He was followed by a lovely tandem of Toronto transplants, Debbie Quigley on pipes and Patrick Ourceau on fiddle who also welcomed Mike McHale, a resident of nearby Catskill town on stage for the reels "Lucy Campbell" and "Toss the Feathers" to close their set.

Next up were two Irish imports, Cillian Vallely from Armagh and Ivan Goff from Dublin, who now live near one another now in Sunnyside, Queens but whose paths don't cross all that often. They produced a marvelous piping duet cobbled up just 30 minutes before their set which was a testament to their respective skills and repertoire.

Special guests from Ireland were up next, with young piper Cormac Cannon teaming up with Breda Keville, a lovely young fiddle player from Galway who specializes in the old style music of East Galway and Clare. Her album The Hop Down garnered some respectable attention in the past couple of years, so it was wonderful to see her perform along with Cormac.

One of the most revered of the pipers around today is Mick O'Brien from a very distinguished Dublin family, and he provided the closing act that was so eagerly awaited since his appearance there four years ago at the first East Durham conclave.

With just enough age on him to have experienced those heady early days of the Pipers Club on Thomas Street in Dublin and the seminal piping influences of those times in the early 1960s, he is now a primary tradition-bearer for the younger pipers whose numbers are growing these days, keeping pipe-makers busy and tionols thriving.

I particularly enjoyed his three-tune set from the Canon James Goodman collection of Munster piping with music that captured the essence of Irish piping from over 200 years ago.

William Butler Yeats would have found nothing so sad about the piping heard around Gavin's Resort even in the laments and airs shared by the pipers in the concert. Uilleann pipers have devoted too much of their lives in learning to play the pipes and wearing their hearts and souls on their sleeves as they play their piping repertoire to perpetuate any notion that their music might seem sad to some listeners.

Pipers have to work much harder at their craft, but they seem to take pleasure in commiserating about climate conditions wrecking havoc with their instruments. Yeats had it half right when he said the pipers had gaiety galore (folk of the air) when they gathered at Gavin's this part weekend to celebrate with one another.

Congratulations to the East Coast Irish pipers and Kara Doyle along with sound engineers Hillary Schrauf and Eric Everson for a very enjoyable piping experience.