John K. Beatty

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John K. Beatty, an Irish uilleann piper from Drumrany, Ballymore, County Westmeath, was born around 1821. He left Ireland for the United States in 1839 and settled in Brooklyn, working as a bricklayer. By 1860 he had moved to Chicago and joined the Illinois militia, serving in the commissary department at the start of the Civil War.

Beatty began studying piping with James Quinn. He owned a set of Egan pipes, but later switched to a larger, more powerful set made by Billy Taylor of Philadelphia. Taylor’s pipes helped Beatty stand out, and he became known for a remarkable lilting style. It was said Taylor believed Beatty could be a true wonder if he could play as well as he sang. Beatty’s rapid, expressive fingering earned admiration from others, including Tarlach Mac Suibhne, who called him a “great shower of fingers.”

At times his playing emphasized speed over strict rhythmic precision, and the drones and regulators could clash with the chanter—an issue not blamed on the maker. Beatty also wrote and sang his own songs, mainly about current events. Some think that if he had begun playing earlier in life, he might have achieved even greater fame. By 1913, Captain O’Neill noted that Beatty had grown enfeebled by age and could no longer play as he once did.