Some info on the famous uileann piper Thomas Killeen below. I cannot find any records to confirm who Thomas' parents were? I think his father was Anthony but could not find any confirmation? Any help would be muchappreciated.
George Henry Moore (1811-91) of Moore Hall, Carrowhall, Co. Mayo, (father of the novelist George Moore) was a patron of a professional piper in Ballyglass, near Carrowhall, ‘Big’ Thomas Killeen (c.1830-1907). Thomas was one of two partially-sighted sons born to a comfortable farmer in the area - ‘a warm farmer’ - who arranged that they should both learn a profession that would support them. He had Thomas trained as a piper and Pat, the other partially sighted son, as a dancing master, and both traveled around together. Tradition credited Moore with using his influence to ensure that the Killeens, and the pupils attending Pat’s dancing classes, did not suffer when the Coercion Act, which restricted people’s movement at night, was applied at the height of the Land War in the 1880s. He is also said to have brought Thomas to play for Queen Victoria on her last visit to Ireland in 1900
