Piping Heaven/Piping Hell started in spring of 2015 when Blackie O’Connell, Cyril O’Donoghue, and Pat Broderick gathered for a tune in Dan O’Connell’s pub on a Friday afternoon. What began as an afternoon session for tourists,has since matured into a world-renowned weekly gathering of pipers from all corners of the globe. Each week, Blackie O’Connell hosts the session with an invited special guest piper. From legends of the piping tradition to learners starting their journey, PH/PH is a welcoming haven of camaraderie, fun, knowledge sharing, and community in Clare.
 

In 2018 PH/PH moved to its current home at Considines Bar on Parnell Street in Ennis, and it was a match made in heaven! Collaborating with the team at Considines helped PH/PH solidify its place as an internationally recognised brand in Irish Traditional Music, right in the heart of Ennis town. The session has grown into a setting for pipers to swop tunes, glean technique, and trade tales of pipers gone before us. It is extraordinary to see a beginner piper sit alongside a seasoned legend and absorb our tradition first hand; the heart of the ethos promoted at PH/PH. Over the past few years, PH/PH has also been part of many international festivals, from the Arctic Circle in Finland, to the sandy beaches of Galicia, and the bright lights of New York City.
 

 In April 2022, the first PH/PH Tionol took place over the Easter holidays in memory of our dear departed friend Pat Broderick. It was a bittersweet gathering to celebrate a man that gave so much of himself to Piping and was taken too soon from us. However, seeing the streets of Ennis alive with Highland Bagpipe marching bands and a chorus of uilleann pipers playing Rakish Paddy, we’re sure he heard us.

The Easter holidays has become the tradition for the annual PH/PH Tionol and it has grown each year, bringing the greatest exponents of piping to Ennis for a celebration of music, and a recognition of tradition.