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St. Patrick's Weekend 2007

St. Patrick's weekend 2007 was a very special date in the band's history for a number of reasons:

1. Our new junior piping section made their first parade in uniform- David, Sarah, Diarmuid, Jimmy, Conor,Stephen.
2. Our great friends from Northern Ireland, the Matt Boyd Memorial PB from Pomeroy, County Tyrone, made the trip down to New Ross for the weekend. We met these guys and girls in Lorient , France the previous August and both bands proved that music knows no borders- La Muscique Sans Frontier ?. Two different traditions, two different religions and two different histories..but a hundred shared interests..pipes & drums, families, fun,mutual respect. After so many years of the infamous 'Troubles' in Ireland, pipe bands show the way, but then they always have shown the way. Hopefully, we'll make the reciprocal trip North in the near future.
3. Our great friend and interpreter Guillaume Le Marre made the trip from Lorient , Brittany, France with his mother and his mother's best friend. I picked them up at Dublin Airport and brought them through one of my favourite places (next to Tyrone!)... the Wicklow Mountains. We had a great weekend and Celine and Jacqine treated us to a lovely BBQ in France in August. They enjoyed the parade and the touring around New Ross.
4. Our great friends Ray & Elaine Magowan made the trip from County Tyrone. The Magowan household is 'home from home' for us when we are in Tyrone. Again , different traditions and backgrounds and the greatest of friends!
5. Two other great friends of the band came all the way from the USA to be with us. Paul Priest from Demoine ,Iowa, and his brother in law Crawford Wilson from Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania. We met Crawford on our first visit to Pittsburgh in 2000 and we have been friends since.

It was a good weekend!

The Wicklow Mountains	Guillaume and Celine	Guillaume , Celine and Jacqine
	Glendalough (Gaelic meaning: The Valley of the two lakes)	South Street
New Ross FCA Pipe Band	New Ross and District Pipe Band
	Matt Boyd Memorial PB, Pomeroy, Northern Ireland
	Nico's Bar	Ray Magowan & Brian MacMahon
	Slieve Coillte Viewing Point for our Breton friends
	The Dunbody Famine Ship with our Breton friends
Guillaume...le skipper?