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Just curious. Why is there a big emphasis on Irish at the ceremony? i.e. bagpiper My

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mfcorey1 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Sep-11-11 07:38 AM
Original message
Just curious. Why is there a big emphasis on Irish at the ceremony? i.e. bagpiper My
Edited on Sun Sep-11-11 07:39 AM by mfcorey1
granddaughter asked and I have no factual answer.
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sufrommich Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Sep-11-11 07:40 AM
Response to Original message
1. I think bagpipes are traditional when firefighters or police
are killed. I'm not sure why.Aren't bagpipes a Scottish thing?
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mfcorey1 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Sep-11-11 07:41 AM
Response to Reply #1
2. Thanks. nt
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The Velveteen Ocelot Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Sep-11-11 07:58 AM
Response to Reply #1
6. There are also Irish bagpipes.
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WinkyDink Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Sep-11-11 08:18 AM
Response to Reply #6
8. There may well be, but bagpipes are associated with Scotland.
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Greybnk48 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Sep-11-11 09:29 AM
Response to Reply #1
14. There are Irish pipes as well. And the Irish and Scots
have always been cordial with each other historically. I have ancestors to prove it, along with some Tootins thrown in the family tree from a Dutch invasion of Northern Ireland! LOL!
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mrmpa Donating Member (707 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Sep-11-11 10:35 AM
Response to Reply #1
15. It's about mourning....
The Irish due to their centuries of occupation by the English and unjust treatment, learned to mourn well. They used this time to celebrate the lives of the dead.
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markpkessinger Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Sep-11-11 07:44 AM
Response to Original message
3. Persons of Irish Descent ...
...historically speaking, comprised the overwhelming majority of police and firefighters in New York. That has changed in recent years as both departments have become more inclusive, but the bagpipers are part of a tradition that developed when both were pretty much Irish enclaves.
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dipsydoodle Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Sep-11-11 07:52 AM
Response to Reply #3
4. Good point
Frequently conveyed so in many Hollywood movies.
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Smarmie Doofus Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Sep-11-11 08:34 AM
Response to Reply #3
9. You are correct, sir. But NYPD has changed demographically ...
... whereas FDNY is still overwhelmingly white and still has a huge Irish-American element.

Least that's how it looks from here. ( Mostly Irish neighborhood in an outlying boro.)
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bettyellen Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Sep-11-11 08:39 AM
Response to Reply #9
10. the NYPD (maybe FD too) has always had their own band of bagpipers who play for fallen brothers
as well as the major parades here. I don't believe they have a regular band at all.
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WolverineDG Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Sep-11-11 07:54 AM
Response to Original message
5. And how else do you play Amazing Grace outdoors? nt
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ProgressiveProfessor Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Sep-11-11 08:17 AM
Response to Original message
7. Its both Irish and Scot in tradition. Today cops and the military as well
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YellowRubberDuckie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Sep-11-11 08:40 AM
Response to Original message
11. It has become a tradition.
The Irish immigrants gave their children a sense of community and caring for each other. Most of them became firemen and police. While there are other heritages involved, the police and fire memorials have taken on these beautiful traditions shaped by them. If you live in the NE and you're a fireman or a cop, your father, your uncles and cousins are or were probably fire and police. Putting your life on the line for others with no thought of your own is a commendable tradition.
With all the talk of cutting funding to these people who put their lives on the line everyday with no thought of their own is despicable!
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XanaDUer Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Sep-11-11 09:16 AM
Response to Original message
12. Tradition
Edited on Sun Sep-11-11 09:17 AM by XanaDUer
Back in NYC's wild-n-wolly days, the Irish ran the fire stations. Every fireman is Irish, by tradition.
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Maeve Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Sep-11-11 09:27 AM
Response to Original message
13. It has been estimated that as many as 1/6 of those who died on 9/11 were of Irish descent
And yes, bagpipes are both Scots and Irish (Danny Boy 'the pipes, the pipes are calling')
http://www.irishcentral.com/news/A-tribute-to-those-Irish-Americans-we-lost-on-911-102612189.html
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applegrove Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Sep-11-11 11:03 PM
Response to Original message
16. NYCity firefighters were traditionally Irish. They had somebody playing a flute
at one of the sites outside of NYCity.
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