13 Facts About Leo Rowsome

Martin Leo Rowsome was the third generation of an unbroken line of uilleann pipers.

Leo Rowsome was a performer, manufacturer and teacher of the uilleann pipes throughout his life.

Constantly watching his father making and repairing instruments, Leo Rowsome learned the art of pipe making and instrument repair.

In 1925, Leo Rowsome's father died at the age of fifty-five.

Leo Rowsome successfully carried on the family business, after completing his own set of pipes in 1926.

Leo Rowsome taught at Dublin's Pipers Club of which he was president, having revived it as Cumann na Piobairi in 1936 after an 11-year hiatus.

Leo Rowsome was the first uilleann piper to perform on Irish National Radio in the early 1920s when he played solo and later in duets with Frank O'Higgins, Micheal O Duinn and Leo Rowsome's brother John.

Leo Rowsome formed his Pipes Quartet in the mid-1930s and broadcast regularly throughout the 1940s and 1950s.

Leo Rowsome was the first Irish artist to perform on BBC TV.

Leo Rowsome made many recordings for Decca, Columbia and His Master's Voice.

In 1934 Leo Rowsome married Helena Williams, from Taghmon, County Wexford.

Leo's eldest son Leon carried on the tradition of uilleann pipe making in the Rowsome family, toured internationally as a solo piper, and recorded two solo albums on the uilleann pipes.

Leo Rowsome died suddenly whilst adjudicating The Fiddler of Dooney Competition in Riverstown, County Sligo on 20 September 1970.