"Spirit of Winnipesaukee"  (©2017) was inspired from the view of
Lake Winnipesaukee from Poets in the Attic at Castle in the Clouds,
Moultonborough, New Hampshire, USA

Spirit of Winnipesaukee | Irish Uilleann Pipes

• Jim McKenna is a multi-instrumentalist  & composer.  Members of Jim's family, Daniel McKenna and Ann Callahan, had emigrated to Boston during the Irish Famine (An Gorta Mór) in 1850 (Armagh) and 1852 (Cork) respectively.   Daniel McKenna and Ann Callahan were married in Boston (Charlestown) on October 1, 1854.  Daniel and his brother Neil were two of the five founding members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians in Boston (American Society of Hibernians) on March 17, 1857 (Incorporated March 27, 1861). This organization was formed "for the purpose of rendering assistance to the sick and disabled members of their society, and also of providing for the decent burial of the dead". Jim's great great uncle from Drumkeeran Ireland, Thomas McPartlin, performed traditional music on the banjo in Boston during the late 1800's. 
• Dr. E. Moore Quinn wrote on the subject of the Irish Famine: "...a recently composed pipe lament by Jim McKenna entitled, 'Bridget O‘Donnel: A Victim of Famine'.  The latter decries the interlocking set of awful truths that existed behind the journalists' reports and images that were published in the mid-19th century about the Famine.", Pilgrimage in Practice: Narration, Reclamation and Healing and The Many Voices of Pilgrimages and Reconciliation, Reversing the Silence after 150 Years., Mansfield College, Oxford University, Publisher CABI (April 2018 & October 2017); and A Human Rights Pilgrimage in Ireland: Commemorating the Doolough Tragedy in the Twenty-First Century. Publisher Inter-disciplinary Publications, Oxford, England, (July 2015) 
• November 7, 2017, Jim's performance of his composition
"Lament for Bridget O'Donnel" was included in the soundtrack of the Kilkenny Famine Experience Memorial audio visual tour
• Composer of "Lament for Bridget O'Donnel: A Victim of Famine" https://youtu.be/ehhk2nMmMZU 
• Composer of "Lament for the Children of the Kilkenny Workhouse" https://youtu.be/Zj4nVq2H3wY 
• Composer of "Lamento por los Niños en Jaulas - Lament for the Children in Cages
• CelticMusicPodcast: http://celticmusicpodcast.com/2015/213-uilleann-pipes-on-the-giants-causeway/ 
• CelticMusicPodcast: http://celticmusicpodcast.com/2015/209-memorial-day/ 
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• Jim's composition "Lament for Bridget O'Donnel" used in a trailer for "The Great Famine Podcast Series"  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFE0NHC4TgU 
• Performed at the 2016, 2017, 2018 & 2019 Mother's Day Walk for Peace, Louise D. Brown Peace Institute, Code Listen, Boston http://www.ldbpeaceinstitute.org/  http://www.codelisten.org/new-blog/ 
• Boston Celtic Music Festival (BCMFest) 
• 100 Thousand Poets & Musicians 2014, Exeter New Hampshire 
• Folk Song Society of Greater Boston Annual Concerts 
• Irish Connections Festival (Singers' Circle) & St. Brigid Festival, 
Irish Cultural Centre, Canton, Massachusetts 
• Irish Christmas Mass, St. Augustine Chapel, South Boston, Massachusetts