Kenna (family)

From Uilleann Wiki

Kenna was the surname of at least two noted pipemakers of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

The elder Kenna is now believed to have been James Kenna, of Mullingar. He is reported to have been a maker and repairer of spinning wheels, but he is also said to have built a church organ in the Mullingar area.

The younger Kenna was known as Timothy, and may have been James' son. Around the 1830's (the precise date is not known), Kenna had a shop at 1 Essex Quay, Dublin. According to legend, Kenna's workshop (and, presumably, his tools) passed to a member of the Coyne (family) on Timothy's death, but evidence for this is somewhat circumstantial.

Kenna's name is stamped on a handful of surviving fine instruments, several in boxwood. A "lobed" or "shamrock" seal is associated with Kenna's work.