2010 Band Members
Bill Bochanowicz
Caileen Collins has been playing the snare drum in the band since 1998. She is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Accounting at Marist College, and hopes to go on to law school. Although she goes away to school, she continues to play with the band where ever and when ever she can. She also plays the drums in the school band and finds the challenges of both bands very rewarding. She has been selected to be in the Grade 3 band. She loves the family atmosphere of Inis Fada. Aside from drumming, she also enjoys busting people's chops and singing.
Frank Collins began playing the bagpipes well after his 40th birthday, fulfilling a lifelong ambition. He is employed as a Compliance Officer for a Wall Street Brokerage Firm. His hobbies include paying for his son Sean's sports injuries, and trying to convince everybody that his daughter Caileen doesn't always have her way. He also enjoys rebuilding cars, and studying American history.
Mike Conolly is the last of the Band's original charter members still actively playing and competing with Inis Fada. Besides piping, the 'Old Man' of the band manages to fill his days sailing, brewing his own beer, playing golf, skiing, and somehow finding time to play character roles in musicals produced by local community theater groups. Mike pursued an engineering career in aerospace electronics for 38 years before realizing that retirement was the only solution to the problem of finding enough time to play.
Ward Conolly has been playing the pipes since 1974 and has grown up with the band. After competing as both an individual (grade 1) and with the band (grade 3 and 2) for over 20 years, Ward became the third Pipe Major of the band in 1998. When not playing Ward runs his own CPA firm on Long Island. In addition to work and dealing with band matters, Ward enjoys skiing, golf, sailing and soccer.
Charlie Damm started playing with the band shortly after Ward. He has worked for the Nassau County Sheriff's Dept. for over twenty years where he is currently a Sergeant. Even though his son and daughter play drums, he finds drummers to be nothing more than a necessary evil. He enjoys playing computer and video games as well as traveling to competitions. His wife and son are also in the band. Prior to that, he spent a good part of his marriage competing against his wife at competitions as they have been married for over twenty years.
Michael Damm
Margaret Damm has been piping for over 20 years and played mostly with Saffron United but joined Inis Fada in XXX. She competed in Irish dancing for many years, and teaches dancing at the Mise Eire School in Babylon, NY.
Brendan Farrell
Kevin Farrell
Sean Farrell
John Graney has been playing the bagpipes since XXXX. John lives in Floral Park with his wife Laura and works for Country Living Magazine as the advertising manager. Besides piping, he is an avid golfer and fisherman.
Mike Gray is involved in all aspects of pipe band drumming: he plays snare, tenor and bass. He enjoys spending time with his wife Carmel and his daughter Kathleen. He is the self-proclaimed biggest NY Giants fan and Glasgow Celtic fan in the band. Oh, Mister Mike...
Sean Hughes
Kathleen Jedlica
Sean Lunney joined the Inis Fada Gaelic Pipe Band in 2001. He is a former Pipe Major for the Archbishop Molloy Pipe Band and also played for Iona College Pipes and Drums. Sean has studied individually under the late Tom Brancella, Pipe Major Ward Conolly, and World Championship Piping Judge Dixie Ingham. Sean challenges his playing by competing in solo competition where he has won numerous medals. Some of Sean's personal highlights include being a part of Inis Fada's Grade IV EUSPBA Championship in 2003, as well as being the bands "Most Improved Piper" for that year. Sean graduated from Iona College in 2007 with a BA in both Criminal Justice and Psychology. He also enjoys watching the NY Rangers, NY Yankees, and the NY Giants.
Buddy McGrath
Sean O'Donnell joined the band in 20XX. Before coming to Inis Fada, Sean played for Co. Tyrone Pipes and Drums. Sean works as a Structural Engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and is married with two children.
Sharon O’Donnell
Michael Vedric is Inis Fada's Snare Drum Sergeant and Drum Instructor. In 1997, he joined Inis Fada at the age of 14 when he began studying snare drum. He went on to study string bass at SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music where he recieved his Bachelors of Music in Music Education in 2006. He is a music teacher in the Patchogue-Medford school district and teaches private music lessons in Nassau and Suffolk counties.
Mike Wetherell