Dinny Delaney
Denis "Dinny" Delaney (6 August 1841 – 29 November 1919) was an Irish piper. Delaney, who was born in Tulrish, in the County Roscommon part of Ballinasloe parish, but lived most of his life in Ballinasloe, was described by O'Neill as "One of the few surviving, good, old-time players of the rollicking style ... Robust in build and ruddy of complexion, he is one of the central figures in its life, and in its celebrated fair." O'Neill went on to say: "Though totally blind, he is, strange to say, unsurpassed as a judge of cattle and other kinds of  farm stock, and so well recognized is his skill in this respect that at fair and market his opinion is eagerly sought when trading is in progress. Stranger still is the fact that furniture moving is his principal occupation. With a table on his head, or a cupboard on his back, he can make his way safely all over town. To see him thus engaged and without a trace of timidity in his footsteps, a stranger would never suspect that he was blind." "Gifted with great conversational powers, an endless fund of humor, and a tenacious memory, he is naturally  the life of every gathering which he attends. With such attractions, not to mention his qualifications as a prize-winning piper, we can understand how he won the heart and hand of a buxom young colleen half his age, it being his second matrimonial venture." "The jolly Denis, having "seen" to the burial of an old friend and brother piper, naturally "came in" for his beautiful set of pipes. He disposed of his own superannuated set, made by the elder Kenna in 1781, to Mr. Wayland, the irrepressible enthusiast and untiring promoter, of Cork, he being the fifth proud possessor  of this specimen of Kenna's handiwork." "The first owner after coming from the hands of the maker was a Mr. Burke of Tyquin, near Athenry, County Galway, and their cost ten pounds. By bequest they became the property of Mr. Burke's nephew, Mr. C. Natton, of Kingstown. Dublin, from whom Denis Delaney purchased them in 1873." Delaney died of pneumonia on 29 November 1919 in the infirmary of Ballinasloe Workhouse. According to his death certificate, he was 78. He was married twice: in 1869 to Catherine Coleman and in 1904 to Maria Flannery.