Celebrating its centenary this year, Derryclavin Pipe Band is launching a book to mark the special milestone, which records the band's history over the 100 years.

The book's launch will coincide with a special concert hosted by the band at the Ardhowen Theatre this Friday night (October 14). A great evening of musical entertainment is promised with Maguiresbridge Silver Band, Folk group ‘Elbowed Out’ and Derryclavin Pipe Band performing on the night, which starts at 8pm.

The book, which is titled 'Derryclavin Pipe Band: 1922-2022, 100 Years', was written by Rev. John Beacom, a member of the band.

Speaking to The Impartial Reporter, John outlined what the book entails: "The book records 100 years of Derryclavin Pipe Band. The first official record of the band was in October 1922."

He explained that the book features a collection of over 250 photographs, many of which were provided by people connected with the band and members of the Derryclavin Loyal Orange Lodge.

"I also went through the archives of The Impartial Reporter and the Fermanagh Herald," said John, who started working on the book and collating the photographs during the first Covid-19 lockdown.

"I've been working on it for 18 months to two years," he said, noting that it is very satisfying to see his work finally come together as a book, which he has formatted into different sections: "It's got three sections on the history of the band, from 1922 to 1960, 1961 to 1990 and 1991 to the present day, but then there's various other sections including a section on our connection with the Black Lodge from The Birches in Co. Armagh, which started in 2007 and built up.

"There's also a section on the drum major because we have a drum major who in his time in the band, when we were competing, won the All Ireland Championships."

The book also covers Derryclavin's connection with the local community, the competition side of the band and other major events, including the time the band represented Northern Ireland at a major Celtic festival in France.

The book covers all areas of the band in detail, but is predominantly photo-led, making it an easy-read.

100 years on, the band continues to thrive with a strong membership, particularly due to great family connections.

Talking about how he became a member, John explained that he "married into the band".

"[My wife] Elaine's father was the pipe major so I sort of married into the band," he said, adding: "There's a huge connection with the family for example, Christopher, my son, he pipes with me in the band. Both of Elaine's brothers pipe in the band, he sister-in-law, nephews and nieces are all in the band.

"Interestingly, the first pipe major in 1922 was a man by the name of William Crawford. We still have direct descendants of him in the band at the minute.

"That's the strength of the band, the family connections. They run deep. The band also has a very strong youth policy and in one year we brought out 14 young members," John told this newspaper.

The book will be available to purchase at the Ardhowen Theatre on the night of Derryclavin Pipe Band's Centenary Concert or by contacting a member of the band.