Owen Cunnigam

Who is Owen Cunnigam?

Owen Cunnigam, fl. 1850s-after 1888, Irish piper.

O'Neill informant, a Mr. Cummings of San Francisco states that he was a native of Athenry, County Galway, though he appears to have lived in the town of Galway at some point. His date of birth is unknown but he lived in the middle years of the 1800s. Nicholas Burke said of him

"he was much given to rambling and was seldom to be found at home. Going from one gentleman’s place to another’s, all over the country, he remained at each for an indefinite period, as did the harpers in their day."

A Captain Clancy of the Chicago police in 1913 remembered him calling to his father's house, some eight miles northeast of Galway, in the 1850s. Captain Clancy "has a clear recollection of the piper and his instrument, describes him as rather tall and thin, with high cheek bones and sallow complexion. His pipes were longer, slimmer, and softer in tone than the modern concert instrument made by Taylor of Philadelphia."

Cunnigam frequently boasted that he received one hundred pounds a year from the Duke of Northumberland for performing at his castle during the six to eight weeks around Christmas. He also boasted of performing before royalty.