He’s Left Holding the Bagpipes

More than 18 months after being stolen, the rare Irish bagpipes and their sweet tones are back in their rightful home in San Juan Capistrano.

That’s the happy ending.

Here’s the story, and it involves a brazen thief, the Internet and a moral dilemma.

Six years ago, Gabriel McKeagney formed the Southern California Uilleann Pipers Club. The club has grown to some 50 members and every month, McKeagney, who moved to Orange County from Northern Ireland a decade ago, opens his San Juan Capistrano home to a group of 15 to 20 pipers.

Unlike traditional Scottish bagpipes, uilleann pipes are played sitting down, powered by a bag and bellows under each arm. The chanter, the melody part of the pipes, is held in both hands with fingers flat across the holes. It plays two octaves, but a good chanter will play one or two notes above that.

McKeagney owned two sets of pipes, including a priceless set crafted by renowned Irish pipe maker Leo Rowsome.

In May 2003, McKeagney’s pipes were stolen from his home. The loss devastated McKeagney, who counts himself among the 2,000 uilleann pipers in the world. For more than a year, McKeagney checked EBay daily to see if the stolen pipes would show up on the auction block.

Then, two months ago, he saw photos of a set of Rowsome pipes for sale on an Irish uilleann pipe Website for $2,000, or best offer. McKeagney compared those pictures with photos of his missing set and noticed a striking resemblance.

His Rowsome-crafted chanter not only sounded different, he said, it looked different. “It had a small indentation near the middle,” he said.

After consulting with a master pipe maker in Vermont and the late Rowsome’s grandson, McKeagney said he figured he was onto something.

McKeagney tracked the seller’s Corvallis, Ore., address and phone number through the website, then contacted the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and a private detective he had hired.

The seller at first claimed the pipes were a gift from an uncle, McKeagney said, then that they were bought at a Los Angeles pawn shop. Corvallis police confiscated two sets of pipes from the man’s home. McKeagney recovered his precious instrument about a month later and learned that the man who confessed to the theft was someone he had met.

The young man had been to McKeagney’s house early last year during one of the pipers club meetings. Like McKeagney, the young man was left-handed, and the veteran piper let him try his Rowsome pipes.

“He was a nice, clean-cut kid,” McKeagney said. “And he had a genuine interest in music.”

The incident rattled his family and shook their trust in people, McKeagney said. The thief, now 21, had entered their home while McKeagney, his wife, Eileen, and their two young children slept.

“Our rooms are all open, so he could probably hear us all breathing,” he said. “That really freaked us out.”

With the pipes safely returned, McKeagney said the only thing left to resolve was a just punishment for the thief. “He didn’t ruin our lives and we’re not out to ruin his,” McKeagney said, “but we were mad.”

The young man apologized, and McKeagney said he was leaning toward accepting it. But his wife had a different opinion.

“The severity of the crime really intensified the moral dilemma,” she said. “There had to be something between him getting off with an apology or going to prison.”

The couple consulted priests, friends, family, neighbors -- and pipers -- over what to do and came up with their own brand of justice. A week ago, the McKeagneys contacted a Catholic church in Corvallis, Ore., to act as an intermediary.

“We’d like to see him work at an old folks home or a hospital,” she said. “The police have allowed us to reserve the right to prosecute if things don’t work out.”

The couple said they were hopeful the man would accept their offer rather than be arrested and charged with theft.

Meanwhile, McKeagney has been getting reacquainted with his uilleann pipes, especially the Rowsome set.

“I’ve been addicted to playing my old set since I got them back,” he said. “I’ve kind of let everything else in my life go.”