What have June Nolan , ( IPBA National Registrar , drummer with Ringaskiddy PB , first female judge , winner of All Ireland Junior Drumming Solos 1995) , Margaret Saunders ( IPBA National Treasurer , piper with New Ross and District Pipe Band ) , Agnes Kelly ( piper with St. Lawrence of Howth Pipe Band , piping instructor with the Aer Lingus PB ) all got in common apart from the fact that they are female ??
They are all past members and products of one of Ireland's oldest and best known bands - the Emerald Girls Pipe Band of Dublin City .
Although the 'Emmies' , as they were known , have not featured on the contest scene for quite a number of years now , they are still very much in existence and still practice at Parnell Square in the heart of Dublin City .
The heart of Dublin City might not be the first or most likely place that would spring to mind when one thinks of the culture of pipe bands in Ireland . However , it might surprise one to learn that it was precisely in that place that many of our foremost bands of yesteryear and the present day had their inception and recruited their players for generations.
Names such as the St. Laurence O'Toole Pipe Band , the Fintan Lalor Pipe Band , the now defunct James Connolly Pipe Band , the City of Dublin Girls Pipe Band and of course the Emerald Girls Pipe Band . Up to the mid 1970's , Dublin City Centre was very much a community in its own right - almost a village of sorts .
Many generations of pipers and drummers came through the ranks of the bands there .
This article is dedicated to one of those bands - The Emerald Girls .
I had the pleasure recently of being guest of Tommy Fitzsimons and Margaret Lynch in the 'Emmies' bandhall prior to a band practice.
The band is as much a social club as it is a band and the members gather around for a chat and cup of tea prior to , and after a practice.
Tommy Fitzsimons has been the leading light of the band since its inception.
An ex-army cashier , Tommy is one of the most meticulous men I have ever met.
He has records of the band going back to the very first meeting.
He was able to tell my companions that evening , June Nolan and Margaret Saunders , the dates they had joined and left the band and if their weekly subscriptions had been up to date at the time they had left.
I think I remember a 20p. overpayment !
Tommy also has every All Ireland Pipe Band Championship programme dating back to the first contest and every issue of the RSPBA Pipe Band magazine dating back to the first issue.
All of these are meticulously stored on shelves in his 'office' at Parnell Square.
The idea of a girls band for Dublin came from a visit to Dublin in 1933 by two leading lights of the Dagenham Girls Pipe Band , England .....Miss Paine and Miss Pyle .. rather unforgettable names Tommy informed me with a mischievous smile.
The Emerald Girls Pipe Band was formed in 1939 and joined the pipe band association in 1941.
The early pipe band association was based at the offices of the Gaelic League at 14 Parnell Square , Dublin and meetings of the Leinster Branch were held here until recent times .
Tommy informs me that it was at a meeting in Parnell Square in 1947 with Eddie McVeigh , of the Northern Ireland Scottish Pipe Band Association , that the new Irish Pipe Band Association agreed to affiliate to the Scottish Pipe Band Association thus beginning a relationship that exists to the present day.
Tommy related a very interesting story to me regarding the seriousness with which the band prepared for competition.
The competition in question was the 1956 World Pipe Band Championships held at the Balmorel Showgrounds in Belfast.
Tommy discovered as early as 1951 that the Worlds was to come to Belfast and decided that this was the competition that the 'Emmies' would win .
That year he set off for Scotland to "suss out the competition" as he put it.
The band prepared for the following four years under the late great Tim Keogh for the Championships.
Tim was very careful to pick tunes that the band could easily handle while John Keogh Snr. prepared the drum corps.
The great day arrived and the Emerald Girls duly took 1st. prize in their grade.
Some of the people who played on that band are still playing pipes and drums to this day !
I left the 'Emmies' bandhall full of admiration for this group of stalwarts who have been involved in the pipe band scene for so many years.
The band still teaches young girls to play pipes and drums today and although some of our contest bands might be tempted to nowadays scoff at the efforts of non-contest bands such as the Emerald Girls they would do well to reflect on the amount of effort and dedication that these people have shown to the piping scene in Ireland over generations.
Such bands as the Emerald Girls are the "feeder bands" for our more successful contest bands.
Without colourful characters such as Tommy Fitzsimons , Margaret Lynch and others our association would be much poorer today.
If only we had more of these bands today , some of our 'bigger' competing bands might not have such difficulty in finding players

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