Cavanaleck is the name of the townland just inside the Fermanagh County boundary and is situated one mile from the rural town of Fivemiletown. The only buildings in the townland are Cavanaleck Presbyterian Church, Manse and Orange hall along with a number of farmhouses and private dwellings. The local orange lodge had for many years a Part Flute Band which accompanied them on their various parades, however due to the movement of a number of players away from the area in the late 1950s the band had, by 1958 too few members remaining to parade.

After discussion at the lodge meeting it was proposed on 5th January 1959 that a Pipe Band be formed. At this time the late Brian Faulkner Senior had a shirt factory in Belfast and had a Pipe Band connected to it, this was called the Faulet Girl Pipers Band. He became aware of the plight of Cavanaleck and persuaded them to purchase two droned Brien Boru Pipes. On 3rd March it was proposed that all flutes and music be collected and on Monday 13th July 1959 Cavanaleck LOL 623 appeared at the Enniskillen demonstration accompanied by their new Pipe Band.

It was not until 1978 that the band purchased a proper uniform and it is the Ancient MacKenzie tartan that the band still wears today. From the beginning the band was made up of a number of local families and it is mostly their sons who are members today. The names of Johnston, Funston, Williamson and Dunwoody have long been associated with the band. Our Bass Drummer,  Billy Johnston has been a member of the band since the days of the Flute Band, first fluting, then piping and finally playing the Bass Drum. One of our pipers Venton Dunwoody is the son of the original Pipe Major George Dunwoody. The present Pipe Major is Irwin Lapsley who has been Pipe Major for 5 years. Prior to that a member of the famous Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers Brien Boru Band was Pipe Major Victor McLoughlin, who still pipes in the band.

Over the last number of years the band has moved away from taking part in only traditional parades and now plays at as many functions as possible in the local community. We regularly play on the stage at concerts and have increased our repertoire to include such numbers as "Swinging Safari", "Sailors Hornpipe", "21 Acres of land" and "Dublin's fair city". We take part in events run by the local Cancer Research Committee and the local Festival committee. The band has close links with the EX Skins Association in Enniskillen and performs at their annual St. Patrick's dinner. We run an annual parade in Fivemiletown in Mid June, the highlight of which is the special appearance of the combined bands of Cavanaleck Pipe and the local Murley Silver Band. This produces a terrific sound and is much appreciated by the spectators.

As you are probably aware there are very few Brien Boru bands remaining in Northern Ireland due to the difficulties in sourcing new chanters. Most bands, such as Cumber Claudy, Killen, Donemana, Strawletterdallon all changed to Scottish chanters in the 1970s. It was most encouraging to hear from a gentleman in America in 1997 informing us that he had formed a Brien Boru band in America. We kept in regular connection with the members of the "Oregon Trail Pipe Band" and eagerly monitored their progress. So enthusiastic were they that during the summer of 2001 they made the long trek from Portland USA to Northern Ireland being guests of Cavanaleck band and Newcastle Crimson Arrow Pipe Band who also play Brien Boru Pipes. Our guests really enjoyed their stay and played at our Parade in Fivemiletown and at the Regimental Museum in Enniskillen. We keep in regular contact with our American Friends and wish them well in their endeavours to progress Brien Boru Piping in America.

Cavanaleck band keeps in regular contact with the remaining Brien Born bands in Northern Ireland and has recently formed an association to benefit the bands with regard to locating and purchasing new chanters. We would love to know of any other Brien Boru bands in the world and if so we would like to be able to communicate with them.