There is a fair good argument to support that the forerunner to the pipes as we know them today originally came out of the area of India and Pakistan where the "Celts" began their migration out across Eastern and Western Europe. Most early European Pan Celtic cultures had some form of them, and they developed in common, yet unique ways, into the myriad of instruments we know as bagpipes today. To sit and waste bandwidth arguing about some of this seems silly to me. The simple fact is that the Irish introduced what we now call bagpipes to Scotland. Another fact is that the Uilleann pipes are today a uniquely Irish instrument in design and style of play. It is interesting that their versatility is being discovered and the style of playing them is evolving. Those that are bothered by this misunderstand a basic tenet of Irish music. It is always evolving. That IS the tradition. I chuckle when a new instrument or style is introduced and purists turn up their noses. A hundred years ago trad Irish music would not have included Irish bouzouki's, guitars, Low D whistles, etc.

The pipes, in all their forms, are native to many European cultures. And where they came from is subject to much conjecture.

All the best,

Mick