25/07/2026
"St. Patrick's Day in the Morning" was the tune Admiral William Brown and his fleet sailed into battle to...
This week, we were honoured to welcome Argentinian uilleann piper Pamela Schweblin back to Foxford, the birth place of Admiral William Brown.
As a young girl growing up in Argentina, Pamela was inspired by the music of The Chieftains. Their recordings sparked a lifelong passion for Irish traditional music, leading her to take up the uilleann pipes and dedicate herself to learning and sharing our musical tradition thousands of miles from Ireland.
Pamela first visited Foxford in 2007, when over 40 musicians travelled from Argentina to celebrate the launch of a new Comhaltas branch in Argentina, an unforgettable event organised by the late J.J. O'Hara. Nearly twenty years later, it was wonderful to welcome her back.
On Wednesday, Pamela was the special guest performer at a performance in Foxford Woollen Mills, accompanied by Maria Lynn, David Doocey, Patrick Doocey, Stephen Doherty, John McHugh and Tom Doherty . The video shared here was captured later that evening on the Promenade in Foxford, beneath the statue of Admiral William Brown, as the group performed "St. Patrick's Day in the Morning". As Admiral Brown and his fleet sailed into battle in 1814, during Argentina's fight for independence, this was the tune he requested his musicians to play - to motivate them on.
During her visit, Pamela led a uilleann pipes workshop and a tunes workshop on the music of Patrick Ganley, the Irish-born musician and composer who had emigrated to Argentina in 1875 at the age of 18. Although he made Argentina his home, he never forgot his Irish roots, composing more than 300 tunes that reflected his love of Ireland.
Over one hundred and fifty years after Patrick Ganley left Ireland, an Argentinian musician returned to Foxford to teach his music in his native land. In doing so, Pamela has helped bring Ganley's remarkable collection of tunes back to life in Ireland. Musicians are now learning, playing and sharing his music once again, ensuring that his legacy will continue to grow and be enjoyed by future generations. It is a truly remarkable full-circle story, connecting Ireland and Argentina through one man's music.
Through the workshops and performances, CCÉ Admiral Brown was delighted to raise and donate €500 towards Pamela's appeal to provide uilleann pipes for young musicians in Argentina, where she is teaching in the Pipers’ Club in the small town of Lago Puelo, in the Patagonian Andes of Argentina. This fund will help ensure that the tradition continues to flourish and we look forward to welcoming these young pipers to Foxford in the future.
We sincerely thank Pamela for sharing her music, friendship and inspiration with us throughout the week. We wish her every success with this wonderful initiative and look forward to welcoming her back to Foxford again.
If you would like to support this project and help young pipers in Argentina, you can make a donation using the link below. Have a look at the video on the idonate page - amazing work going on with Irish music in Argentina. 👏🎶
Comhaltas
https://gofund.me/033703287
