Pipe Organs of Ireland

Sometimes, it seems that music is connected to everything in the world. In Ireland and Northern Ireland, music, religion, and politics were especially tied to one another and influenced each other, resulting in a tangled and confusing knot. One of the most visible signs of the connections between the three was one that I did not expect: pipe organs. My two favorite organs of the trip were at Galway Cathedral and the Guildhall in Derry. Each organ serves as a visible reminder of the music/religion and music/politics relationships, respectively.

Galway Cathedral: Dedicated on August 15th, 1965, Galway Cathedral was the first Catholic cathedral built in Galway City. It is the youngest of all the stone cathedrals in Europe. Described as “probably the most exciting instrument in Ireland today,” the magnificent Gallery Organ is the cathedral’s main pipe organ, originally built in 1966 and rebuilt between 2006 and 2007. It is absolutely massive, covering the entire north wall of the cathedral. The lovely stained-glass window above the organ, shaped like a six-sided flower, draws the eye instantly to the pipes framing it. I am not a particularly religious person, but as I stood there looking at the Gallery Organ, I could not help but feel very moved by it. I could imagine being seated beneath it during a service, with the sound of the organ echoing throughout the cathedral. Such a grand, glorious instrument seemed fitting for praising God, however one defines God, through music.

The Guildhall, Derry: Built in 1887, the Guildhall began its life as Londonderry Corporation’s administrative center. It has been destroyed twice, by fire in 1908 and by IRA bomb attacks in 1972. Today the building houses the Derry City Council, and it was the seat of the Bloody Sunday Inquiry (2000-2005). Its fantastic pipe organ, boasting over 3,100 pipes, was first installed in 1891. It suffered severe damage from the fire and the bombs, but was fully restored after both events. The Guildhall organ’s beautiful white pipes, decorated with blue bands and gold leaf around the pipe mouths, seem to jump out of the wood casing. As I admired the organ, I realized just how much political history the instrument has witnessed. It survived the Irish War of Independence, and the building it calls home was the Bloody Sunday marchers’ original destination. It has actually been a part of that painful history, when it was destroyed in 1972. I was amazed that a musical instrument could have survived so much turmoil. The Guildhall organ, for me, was a visible reminder of Derry’s political past. I also saw the organ as a metaphor for Northern Ireland: political unrest ripped it apart at one point, but it has been put back together. The organ is a survivor of the Troubles, and it, like the rest of Northern Ireland, is healing its old wounds.

Music is a medium of passing on historical, social, political, and religious information. The pipe organs of Galway and Derry were more than just musical instruments. They were reminders of Irish culture and history through their connections to religion and the Troubles. They symbolized the intimate relationship between music, politics, and religion.