Richie Piggott

Irish Music Historian & Author

For the past twelve years, Richie has been researching and collecting the legacies of traditional musicians of the Irish diaspora in Chicago. He has now written and published a book, entitled Cry of a People Gone, covering Irish musicians in Chicago from 1920-2020.
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Cry of a People Gone

Piggott augments and extends O'Neill's documentation into the 21st century... an impressive amount of information... a rich, detailed view of the lives of people who came from Ireland and made a life in Chicago...  Piggott's work is sure to become a classic in Irish musical history and preserves the legacy of those who loved, collected and played Irish music.
​– Irish Edition (Nov. 2022)

Latest News

15/10/2024 
The Life & Music of Jehile Kirkhuff

While researching the musical life of the Philadelphia piper, Thomas Standeven, I discovered he frequently visited the Appalachian Mountain region of Northern Pennsylvania, visiting the musicians who lived there. One of these locals was blind fiddler Kirkhuff, whose ancestors came from Germany in the late 1700s.  
              Here I present two recordings: one from 1964, when Tom Standeven, accompanied by his friends Danny Smith (accordion, Co. Galway) and Pat Harvey (fiddle, Co. Donegal) travelled up to the Appalachian Mountains in N. Pennsylvania to spend an afternoon with Jehile; and the other a compilation of Jehile’s music I have collected from various sources including Lora Staples of Red Desert Violin, Dan Fassett and the recordings of Ed & Geraldine Berbaum...
A visit with Pauline Henry
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The photos below are from a recent visit Eileen Neary and I paid to the home of Pauline Henry. Pauline, now in her 92nd year, was in great form all afternoon as we spoke of the wonderful sessions we all experienced in Lanigan's down through the years. I have also included a video clip in the main post, that I took of one of these sessions in Oct. 2017, where their husbands (RIP) were enjoying the craic!
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Pauline & Eileen, thank you both for a wonderful afternoon and keep well,
Richie

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