Flannery was a native of Aughrim, County Galway, four miles west of Ballinasloe town.
Money was showered on him as he played in the streets, so keen was the appreciation of his wonderful music, which we can well believe was voluminous as well as melodious.
Until I made Flannery's pipes, there was no more thought of my pipemaking than there was of Michael Mannion's of Liverpool, or Maurice Coyne's of Dublin."
Flannery's grand set of pipes, in which Mr. Egan, their maker, took so much pride, became the property of Mr. Quinn, his friend, who honored the old minstrel with a decent burial.
Ald McNurney, into whose hands they passed subsequently, found them too large for convenience, so he traded them for a more suitable instrument to Bernard Delaney, who can wake the echoes with them again, although they are far below modern concert pitch.