A recent thread on digitised Irish music - and in particular a link mentioned by Peter Laban - took me to the Irish Music Collections Online (IMCO) website. And a fascinating resource it is.

What was particularly fascinating was a particular collection entitled

A Collection of Irish Airs and Jiggs with Variations, Adapted for the PIANO FORTE VIOLIN, & VIOLINCELLO by John Murphy, Performer on the Union Pipes; at Eglinton Castle

Browsing through this I came across a piece by one J. Clarke (I'm assuming Jeremiah Clarke) called, A Favourite Rondo, composed for the Union Pipes. It caught my ear immediately, and I've spent a happy couple of hours transcribing the first two parts of it as a guitar piece. It starts in 4/4 and then kicks into gear with a terrific rondo in 2/4.

I've only ever seen and heard the Uilleann/Union pipes playing very traditional Irish music. Can any more enlightened soul comment on their historical use as 'classical' instruments?