Piper
Mike Forkan started piping in the summer of 1995 with Terry McHugh in the Doonaree Pipe Band. A hard-working student, with years of experience playing saxophone, he competed in 1997 including the All Ireland Championships. He received a piping scholarship to attend Monmouth College starting that fall. Mike joined the Chicago Metropolitan Pipe Band, 1998-2000, which merged as the Midlothian-Metro Pipe Band in 2001 which lead to his first trip to the World Championships in Grade 3. He played with the Chicago Caledonian Pipes and Drums in 2002 returning to the Worlds in Grade 2. Mike co-founded the City of Chicago Pipe Band in the summer of 2003 and competed with the band in its climb from Grade 3 to Grade 1! He served as Pipe Major of the Chicago Scots Pipe Band, 2011-2016, taking that band from Grade 4 to Grade 3. He also competed with the LA Scots Pipe Band in Grade 1, 2014-2016, before returning full-time to the reorganized City of Chicago Pipe Band. Mike is an ardent Irish music enthusiast learning both tin whistle and uillean pipes and regularly attending sessions around the city. He is keenly interested in the musical history of his family from Mayo and has a connection with Chicago legend Kevin Henry who hails from the Sligo/Mayo border and knew Mike’s Grandfather and Great Grandfather. Mike is an avid golfer playing in a weekly league and as often as possible in the summer. He has had many odd jobs including horse carriage driver, limo reservationist, German beer garden waiter, and a water quality technician at Brookfield Zoo. Now he is an attorney and the owner of Forkan Law.