This is a list of scholarly articles relating to the
Gaelic harp. If you think I have missed any out, please let me know and
I'll be pleased to add them to the list.
Most of these are out of print and unavailable to purchase. However they should be available to consult in a good academic or university library. Some are available at the Emporium; see links under the relevant listings.
Paul Adam and Léon Jéquier
‘L'armorial Wijnbergen (fin)’ Archives
Héraldiques Suisses LXVIII, 1954
The concluding part of this edition of the Wijnberg Armorial includes a
description and photograph of the earliest known use of an Irish harp
in heraldry. (pl. VII and p. 75)
Brian Audley ‘A newly
discovered portrait of Patrick Quin, the harper, c. 1745 - 1812’
Treoir (Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann)
Vol 26 No. 4, 1994
A black-and-white reproduction of a watercolour portrait of Quin, now
in the Ulster Museum, Belfast, and some notes about his life.
Brian Audley ‘Some Missing Items of the Bunting Collection, Rediscovered;
Ulster Folklife vol. 49, 2004
John Bannerman ‘The
Clàrsach and the Clàrsair’ Scottish
Studies vol. 30 no. 3, 1991
A useful overview of the instrument and the people who played it in the
Highlands of Scotland.
Secondhand at the Emporium.
Patrizio Barbieri ‘Gold- and Silver-Stringed Musical Instruments: Modern Physics vs Aristotelianism in the Scientific Revolution’ Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society vol XXXVI, 2010
Concentrating mainly on harpsichords, this article gives historic evidence for gold and silver strings in the 17th century, and then discusses practical issues and modern experiments, with contributions from Gaelic harp practicioners.
Charles D. Bell ‘Notice of
two ancient harps and targets’ Proceedings of the Society of
Antiquaries of Scotland, Vol XV, 1880-81
A useful description and history of the Queen
Mary and Lamont
harps when they first came to the Museum.
Michael Billinge and Bonnie Shaljean ‘The
Dalway or Fitzgerald harp (1621)’ Early Music, Vol XV no. 2,
May 1987
An analysis of the Cloyne
harp and a reconstruction of its partially chromatic tuning,
along with an overview of other evidence for chromatic Gaelic harps.
Available from the Emporium
Michael Billinge ‘Building a reproduction of the Downhill harp (the harp of Denis Hempson) for the Irish television documentary, Banríon an Cheoil’ Bulletin of the Historic Harp Society Vol. xx no. 2, March 2010
A description of a TV film project to make a copy of the Downhill harp, and use it in concerts in Belfast and Derry.
Virginia Blankenhorn ‘Observations on the Performance of Irish Syllabic Verse’ Studia Celtica Volume 44, Number 1, January 2010.
A summary of the author's experimental performances at the ‘Beyond Text’ seminars held in Bangor and Edinburgh in 2009, setting medieval Gaelic poetry to harp accompaniment.
Seóirse Bodley ‘Technique and structure in “Sean-Nós” singing&rsquo Éigse Cheol Tire vol 1, 1972-3
An interesting and useful overview of 'Old-Style' Gaelic singing.
Barra Boydell ‘The
Iconography of the Irish harp as a National Symbol’ in Irish
Musical Studies 5 ed. P.F. Devine & H. White 1996.
An interesting and well illustrated overview of how a harp, whether
based more or less on real examples or freely imagined, has been used
as a symbol of Ireland over the centuries.
Padraig A. Breathnach ‘A
musical link between dán and amhrán’.
Ceol, Vol IV no. 4, 1981
A comparison between these two forms of Irish poetry/song, with
suggestions that the musical performance styles may be linked.
Alan Bruford ‘The Sea-Divided Gaels - Some Relationships between Scottish Gaelic, Irish and English Traditional Songs’ Éigse Cheol Tire vol 1, 1972-3
A useful look at some songs and tunes which appear in English, Scottish and Irish sources, such as Cailín ó chois tSiúire mé.
Alan Bruford ‘Song and
recitation in early Ireland’ Celtica 21, 1990. Read it online (pdf)
An in-depth look at the way in which Irish poetry/song would have been
sung and accompanied by the Gaelic harp.
Andrea Budgey ‘Commeationis
et affinitatis gratia: Medieval musical relations between Scotland and
Ireland’ in R. Andrew McDonald (ed.) History, Literature and
Music of Scotland University of Toronto Press 2002
An exellent overview of many aspects of musical interaction
betweem Scotland and Ireland, centered on the writings of Gerald of
Wales.
Frans Buisman
‘A Parallel between Scottish Pibroch and Early Welsh Harp Music’, Hanes Cerddoriaeth Cymru /
Welsh Music History Volume 6, Tachwedd/November 2004.
A very dense and difficult posthumous article which compares not only the Welsh figures of Robert ap Huw with the gracenotes used in piping, but also the Irish harp terms collected by Edward Bunting.Secondhand at the Emporium.
Ewan Campbell ‘Were the
Scots Irish?’ Antiquity 75, 2001.
I am putting this article here even though it has no musical content
whatsoever, because it deals in an extremely lucid way with one of our
main concerns, that is the relationship between Ireland and the
Scottish Highlands and Islands. Cambell takes the dominant idea of
Irish 'colonies' in Scotland head-on, arguing that Ireland and the
Highlands and Islands have always been a Gaelic archipelago. Read it online.
Simon Capp ‘Historic Harps -
a Makers Eye View’ Aspects of the Historic Harp 1992
Some interesting comments and observations about baroque Italian harps,
which can provide some background to the wider historical harp scene.
Available from the Emporium
Nicholas Carolan ‘Two Irish
harps in Co. Dublin’ Ceol, Vol VII, December 1984
A brief description and photographs of two previously unnoticed 18th
century instruments.
Nicholas Carolan ‘Philip
O'Sullivan Beare on Irish Music’ Éigse Cheol
Tíre / Irish Folk Music Studies vols. 5-6, 1986 - 2001
Extensive quotes with translations from Philip's two early 17th century
books, including some important comments on Gaelic harps and harpers.
Nicholas Carolan, ‘The Music Manuscripts of Patrick O’Neill (1765-1832) A Preliminary Note’, An Píobaire vol. 5, no. 5, Dec. 2009, p. 18-22
A summary account of the Pádraig Ó Néill manuscripts.
Simon Chadwick, ‘The early Irish harp’ Early Music vol 36 no.4, November 2008, pp.521-532
An overview of the historic Gaelic harp in both Scotland and Ireland, including terminology, surviving instruments, repertory, technique etc. and illustrated with photographs of 7 old instruments.
Available from the Emporium
Simon Chadwick, ‘The Clarsach: Material Context for MacMhuirich Poetry’ Proceedings of the first MacMhuirich Symposium (forthcoming)
A paper presented in Edinburgh in July 2011, connecting the Gaelic harp traditions with the literary and other arts of the medieval West Highlands.
Hugh Cheape & Keith Sanger ‘Mock eulogy on a bad piper and his pipe’ Scottish Gaelic Studies 25, 2009
An edition of a poem by piper and harper William McMurchy, c. 1750, with some comments on the rise of the pipes and the decline of the harp.
Patrick L. Cooney ‘Drogheda Harp Society’ Journal of the Old Drogheda Society 1976 p. 38-40
A short and curious note of the harp & temperance society set up in Drogheda in the early 1840s. A teacher was brought from Belfast and there were 15 or 16 students; harps were made by a Drogheda carpenter. The quotes concentrate much more on the temperance side of things and it is not clear what kind of harps were used. More research is needed.
John Cunningham ‘‘some Consorts of Instruments are sweeter than others’: Further Light on the Harp of William Lawes's Harp Consorts’ Galpin Society Journal LXI, 2008, p.147-176
This article lists and compares the notes required to play each of the pieces in Lawes's early 17th century compositions, and suggests how a harp to play them might be tuned. There is also some discussion of the nature of the sources, and of what kind of harp was intended - this author favouring a chromatic Irish harp.
Seán Donnelly ‘'Feaghan
Geleash'’ Ceol Tíre 25, 1984
Some background to the 'tuning prelude' collected by Edward Bunting from
Denis O'Hampsey.
Seán Donnelly ‘An
Irish harper in the Royal Musick’ Ceol, Vol VI no. 2, April
1984
A brief look at the career of Cormac MacDermott
Seán Donnelly ‘The
Irish harp in England 1590-1690’ Ceol, Vol VII, December 1984
An overview of the historical evidence for the use of the Gaelic harp
in England in the 17th century.
Seán Donnelly ‘An
Irish harper and composer - Cormac MacDermott (?-1618)’ Ceol
vol VIII , July 1986
A detailed look at Cormac's life, including musical examples.
Seán Donnelly ‘Cranngha(i)l
'a sound or effect in music'’ Celtica 22, 1991
Read it online
A short article on a musical term.
Seán Donnelly ‘An
Eighteenth-Century minister and piper’ Ulster Folklife, Vol
46, 2000
A look at Edward Sterling (1706-62), his music and associates including
Arthur O'Neill and other harpers.
Seán Donnelly ‘A
Cork Musician at the Early Stuart Court: Daniel Duff O'Cahill (c. 1580
- c.1660), 'The Queen's Harper'’ Journal of the Cork
Historical and Archaeological Society, Vol 105, 2000
This biography of Daniel Duff O'Cahill also summarises and updates
Seán's work on the Irish harp in England and discusses the
chromatic Cloyne harp and its background.
Sean Donnelly ‘The Captain
and the Harper - Two Mayo Brothers of Elizabethan Times’
Cathair na Mart,
Journal of the Westport Historical Society No. 23, 2003
An account of the exploits of harper Richard Barret in Elizabethan high
society.
Seán Donnelly ‘The
Famousest Man in the World for the Irish Harp’ Dublin
Historical Record vol LVII No. 1 Spring 2004
An investigation into the performances of Mr. Murphy in 18th century
Dublin, with some comments on links between Gaelic and classical music.
Seán Donnelly ‘The ‘Whip of Dunboyne’ and other Irish dance tunes from Tudor and Stuart Leinster’ Ossory, Laois & Leinster 3, 2008
A superb article ostensibly about a late 16th/early 17th century dance tune, but with sweeping context including many fascinating details of early Irish harps in Ireland and England.
John Downing, ‘An Analysis of Irish harp Scaling’, comm 112, FOMRHI Quarterly no. 68, July 1992, p.24-36
An analysis of the string lengths of various extant old Irish harps. The author considers that the old Gaelic harps were strung chromatically, and the data is not taken from measurements, so its value is limited. Read online at www.fomrhi.org
James F. Dunne and Lucy McCaffrey ‘O'Cahan,
the Blind Harper of Johnston Hall’ Folk Harp Journal 47, Dec
1984
An interesting investigation into a harper, John Kain, who went out to
America in 1766. The authors suggest that this is the same person as
Michael Keane whose emigration is described in the memoirs of Arthur
O'Neill.
Máire Egan ‘Reflections
on Ogham and the Irish harp’ Éigse, Vol. XIX part
2, 1983
A response to Sean O'Boyle's 1980 book Ogam the poets' secret (which is Available from the Emporium),
this
article outlines various European musical backgrounds to the tuning of
the Gaelic harp.
Robert Evans ‘A copy of the
Downhill harp’ Galpin Society Journal no. 50, 1997
An account of the constrution of Bob Evans' and Guy Flockhart's
replicas of Denis O'Hampsey's 'Downhill'
harp.
Fanny Feehan ‘Suggested
links between Eastern and Celtic music’ in The Celtic
Conciousness ed. R. O'Driscoll, 1981.
Only suggestions are presented but there are some interesting ideas and
personal observations here.
William Gillies ‘Music and Gaelic Strict-metre Poetry’ Studia Celtica Volume 44, Number 1, January 2010.
A very useful and interesting discussion of how the medieval syllabic poetry may have been performed with harp accompaniment, with many pointers and ideas for future work in this field.
Robert Hadaway ‘A knot of
harp strings’ Early Music, Vol. 11 no. 1, January 1983.
A discussion of the tunings of Gaelic harps, with especial reference to
chromatic tunings in the 17th century, evidenced by the Praetorius
engraving and the Cloyne
harp. See also Ann Buckley's letter in vol. 11 no. 3 , July
1983, and Robert Hadaway's response in vol. 11 no. 4, October 1983.
Available from the Emporium
Janet Harbison ‘The Legacy
of the Belfast Harpers' Festival, 1792’ Ulster Folklife vol.
35, 1989
Although written from the point of view of a lever harp player in the
contemporary neo-Irish harp tradition, this article is very interesting
in the way it contrasts the two diferent legacies of Bunting's work: the
romantic music of his published works and Moore's Irish Melodies and
the unpublished manuscript collections. Includes rare facsimiles of
pages from Bunting's manuscripts.
Sally Harper ‘So how many
Irishmen went to Glyn Achlach? Early accounts of the formation of Cerdd
Dant’ Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies 42, Winter 2001.
An investigation into the semi-mythical Irish origins of Welsh 'Cerdd
Dant' harp music.
Available from the Emporium
Ruth-Ann M. Harris & Sally K. Sommers Smith ‘The eagle and the harp: the enterprising Byrne brothers of County Monaghan’ Irish Studies Review, vol 18, no. 2, May 2010
An overview of the lives and careers of Patrick Byrne and his brother Christopher, including excerpts from the latter's letters.
Ann and Charlie
Heymann ‘Cláirseach: the lore of the
Irish harp’ Éire-Ireland XXVI no.3, fall 1991
A concise but full exposition of Ann and Charlie's theories regarding
the sacred and mystical symbolism of the Gaelic harp's construction,
tuning and playing. Secondhand at the Emporium.
Ann and Charlie
Heymann ‘Strings of Gold’ The
Historical Harp Society Journal, Vol. XIII no.3, Summer 2003, pps.
9-15.
Ann and Charlie set out the historical evidence and the practical need
for experiments with precious metal strings in the bass of low-headed
Gaelic harps. Read the article online.
Tim Hobrough ‘A Description of the Early “Irish Harp”’, comm 104, Fellowship of Makers and Restorers of Historical Instruments Bulletin and Communications no. 10, January 1978, pp.43-48
A useful summary of the physical and structural characteristics of early Gaelic harps; mentions the use of silver wire strings. Read online at www.fomrhi.org
Tim Hobrough ‘Notes on European harps’, comm 184, FOMRHI Quarterly no. 14, January 1979, pp.47-57
Illustrated overview of the different types of harps used in Europe from earliest times to the 20th century. Mentions toggle marks inside the Lamont harp soundbox. Read online at www.fomrhi.org
Peter Holman ‘The Harp in
Stuart England - New light on William Lawes's Harp Consorts’
Early Music, Vol XV no. 2, May 1987
A strong argument that William Lawes was writing for a chromatic Gaelic
harp, and some notes on other evidence for the use of the Gaelic harp
in England. See also Layton Ring's letter in vol. XV no.4, November
1987.
Occasionally Available from the Emporium
Sandra Joyce ‘An
Introduction to O'Carolan's Music in Eighteenth-Century Printed
Collections’ in Irish Musical Studies 4 ed. P.F. Devine
& H. White 1996.
This article includes some discussion of the basses in some of the
printed editions, and considers whether or not they may reflect
original harp basses. Includes a number of facsimile pages.
Sara C Lanier ‘"It is
new-strung and shan't be heard": nationalism and memory in the Irish
harp tradition’ in British Journal of Ethnomusicology, Vol.
8, 1999
An intriguing look at the way in which the historical wire-strung Irish
harp, and its music collected by Edward Bunting, is treated as a
symbol, and the way in which this clashes with attempts to revive it as
a performing musical instrument. Read an extract.
Terence McCaughey ‘The
Performing of Dán’ Eriu, Vol XXXV, 1984
An investigation into how old Gaelic poetry may have been performed,
based on percieved similarities and differences from the living
tradition. Harp accompaniment is mentioned briefly.
Aiken McClelland ‘The Irish
Harp Society’ Ulster Folklife, Vol 21, 1975
A detailed look at the Irish Harp Society of Belfast, and the people
involved with it between 1808 and 1840. Contains some interesting
quotes from accounts, correspondence and minute-books.
Christopher Macklin ‘Approaches to the use of iconography in historical reconstruction, and
the curious case of Renaissance Welsh harp technique’ Early
Music
Vol. 35, No. 2, May 2007
abstract online
Appears to be trying to use raw statistics to interpret iconography,
but
has many errors of fact and methodological problems.
Raghnall MacilleDhuibh ‘A Game of Chinese Whispers’, West Highland Free Press c. June 2002
This newspaper column by Ronald Black investigates the song Cailín ó Chois t-Siúir Mé, tracing its words from Shakespeare to Gaelic waulking songs via some Irish poems. A very solid account of an interesting and otherwise neglected area. Unfortunately (as it is a newspaper column) there are no references or footnotes.
Cuthbert McGrath ‘Two
Skilful Musicians’ Eigse 7, 1953-5
Poems on Eoghan Ó hAllmhuráin and
Nioclás Dall.
Colette Moloney ‘Style and
Repertoire in the Gaelic Harp Tradition: Evidence from the Bunting
Manuscripts and Prints’ in Irish Musical Studies 4 ed. P.F.
Devine & H. White 1996.
This article presents much the same material as is given in greater
depth in the introduction of her 2000 ‘Introduction and
Catalogue’.
Colm O Baoill ‘Some Irish
Harpers in Scotland’ Transactions of the Gaelic Society of
Inverness 47, 1970-72, p.143-171
A look at the lives of Ruairí Dall O Catháin,
Thomas O Connellan, Echlin O Catháin, and Denis O Hampsey.
Colm Ó Baoill ‘Alexander Grant, 4th of Shewglie’ The Society of West Highland and Island Notes and Queries
No. 23, March 1984.
A reply to Keith Sanger's article of the previous year including details of poems and manuscripts.
Colm Ó Baoill ‘Moving
in Gaelic musical circles - the root lu- in music terminology’
Scottish Gaelic Studies 19, 1999
A technical discussion of words built on lu mostly Gaelic pipe terms
but also including barrluth, casluth and glasluth from Bunting's list
of Irish harp terms.
Colm Ó Baoill ‘Highland Harpers and their Patrons’ in James Porter (ed.) Defining Strains: The Musical Life of Scots in the Seventeenth Century. Studies in the History and Culture of Scotland 2, Peter Lang, Berne, 2007
An investigation of the hereditary harpers, and the ssocial structures in which harpers worked. Part of a book of very useful essays. Available from the Emporium.
Colm Ó Baoill ‘Two Irish Harpers in Scotland’ in James Porter (ed.) Defining Strains: The Musical Life of Scots in the Seventeenth Century. Studies in the History and Culture of Scotland 2, Peter Lang, Berne, 2007
A revised version of the first half of Colm's 1970-2 paper, with biographical details of Ruaidhrí Dall Ó Catháin and Thomas Connellan. Part of a book of very useful essays. Available from the Emporium.
Diarmaid Ó Catháin
‘Revd Charles Bunworth of Buttevant, Patron of Harpers
and Poets’ Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological
Society 102, 1997
An interesting article about the harper Bunworth, including a photo of his harp and of his
house. After his death his servants notoriously burnt his extensive
collection of early Irish harps for firewood. Available from the Emporium.
Breandán Ó
Madagáin ‘Irish vocal music of lament and
syllabic verse’ in The Celtic Conciousness ed. R.
O'Driscoll, 1981.
A detailed investigation into the different types of funereal music.
Réamonn Ó Muirí
‘A 1798 Court Martial With Reference to Arthur O'Neill, Harper’
Seanchas Ard Mhacha Vol 12, No. 2, 1987
The full text, with commentary, of a court case brought by Arthur O'Neill's brother against the captain of a group of soldiers who burnt the brother's house and killed his wife. Arthur's harp and son were in the house and are mentioned in the testimonies.
John H. Pierse ‘Nicholas
Dall Pierse of Co. Kerry, Harper’ Journal of the Kerry
Archaeological and Historical Society No. 6, 1973.
A biography of the 17th century harper Nicholas Pierce, who was
credited with 'compleating said Instrument with more wires than ever
before' this article also looks at the development of the Irish harp
and discusses possible interpretations of the Cloyne fragments.
Joan N Radner ‘'Men will
die': Poets, Harpers and Women in Early Irish Literature’ in
A. T. E. Matonis and Daniel F.Melia (eds), Celtic Language, Celtic
Culture California 1990
A discussion of the Irish origin-myths of poetry and harping, focussing on the female connections of these arts in contrast to others.
Joan Rimmer ‘James Talbot's
manuscript: VI. Harps’ Galpin Society Journal no. 16, 1963
An annotated transcription of Talbot's notebook of c. 1690, including
his observations and measurements of at least two Gaelic harps.
Joan Rimmer ‘The morphology
of the Irish harp’ Galpin Society Journal no. 17, 1964
This article sets out Joan's classification of the surviving
instruments, and includes other observations as well as detailed
measurements of the Lamont,
Kildare and
Sirr harps.
Joan Rimmer ‘Patronage,
style and structure in the music attributed to Turlough Carolan’
Early Music, Vol XV no. 2, May 1987
This article traces the people and musical influences behind some of
Carolan's compositions, with musical examples.
Occasionally available from the Emporium
Joan Rimmer ‘Harp function
in Irish eulogy and complaint - two late examples’ Galpin
Society Journal no. 50, 1997
An interesting but unconvincing attempt to set words to music from
early printed and manuscript sources, based on the idea that the
measure and barlines of the tunes are later distortions, and that they
should be understood as a free song interspersed with harp melismas.
Alasdair Ross ‘'Harps of
Their Owne Sorte'? A
Reassessment of Pictish Chordophone Depictions’ Cambrian
Medieval Celtic
Studies 36, Winter 1998
This article is an interesting reconsideration of the material covered
in the second chapter of Keith Sanger and Alison Kinnaird's 1992 book
Tree of Strings but it ranges much more widely to consider the
international organological and art-historical as well as the local
historical contexts for early medieval stone sculptures of stringed
instruments in Scotland, with important implications for our
understanding of the origins of the Gaelic harp.
Keith Sanger ‘An attempt to
reintroduce the Highland harp 1784-1786’ Notes and Queries of
the Society of West Highland and Island Historical Research no. XVII,
March 1982
Discussion of the letters and accounts of the Highland Society of
London.
Keith Sanger ‘Alexander Grant, 4th of Shewglie’ The Society of West Highland and Island Notes and Queries
No. 20, March 1983.
Some notes on the life of this piper, fiddler and harper. See also Colm Ó Baoill's reply in no. 23, March 1984.
Keith Sanger ‘The McShannons
of Kintyre: Harpers to Tacksmen’ The Scottish Genealogist
vol 38 no 3, Sept 1991 (originally published in the Kintyre Magazine)
Details of the 16th and 17th century genealogy and landholdings of this
family of hereditary harpers.
Keith Sanger ‘An Irish
harper in an English graveyard?’ Irish Music, Vol. 2 1994
A photograph and description of the grave-slab at Heysham, and some
thoughts on its background.
Keith Sanger ‘Elouis, The
Edinburgh Years’ Unpublished typescript, 1996 (since published online, undated, at wirestrungharp.com)
Elois was a pedal harp teacher, who played on the Queen Mary Harp when
it was re-strung for the Highland Society in 1805. This article
details his time living and working in Edinburgh.
Keith Sanger ‘From Taynish
to West Meath - a musical link?’ West Highland Notes and
Queries series 3 no. 4 August 2002
A trail of people, families and cultural contacts between Scotland and
Ireland.
Keith Sanger ‘For the
Scottes Musicke’ Kilt & Harp Scottish harp Society
of America, Summer 2009
A few historical notes on the early 17th century Scottish harper Malcolm Groat, aparrently from Caithness, who was employed in London at the Royal court.
Keith Sanger and Alison Kinnaird, ‘Harps in Scotland’, in John Beech, Owen Hand, Fiona MacDonald, Mark A. Mulhern, and Jeremy Weston (eds)
Scottish Life and Society, A Compendium of Scottish Ethnology, Volume 10, Oral Literature and Performance Culture
published by John Donald in association with the European Ethnological Research Centre and National Museums Scotland, 2007
This chapter in a very useful volume summarises the outline of their book "Tree of Strings" with some new developments and discoveries added in. Available from the Emporium.
Keith Sanger, ‘Final Chords’ West Highland Notes and Queries Series 3, No. 14, December 2009
A useful overview of the decline and extinction of the Gaelic harp tradition in Scotland in the late 17th and early 18th century.
William Sayers ‘The Bound
and the Binding: The Lyre in Early Ireland’ in G. W. MacLennan
(ed), Proceedings of the first North American Congress of Celtic
Studies Ottawa 1998
Seán Ua
Súilleabháin and Seán Donnelly
‘'Music has ended': the death of a harper’
Celtica, Vol 22, 1991 Read it online (pdf)
Some discussion of a poem, a lament for Conchubar Mac Conghalaigh,
early 17th century harper to Domhnall Ó
Donnabháin
Derick S Thomson ‘The Harlaw
Brosnachadh’ Celtic Studies: Essays in memory of Angus
Matheson (1912 - 1962). Routledge & Kegan paul, 1968
An edition of the 15th century poem, which may be connected with the
various pipe and harp tunes of the same name.
Gráinne Yeats ‘Some
thoughts on Irish harp music’ Ceol, Vol IV no. 2, December
1973
Some interesting and thoughtful notes on the nature of the old Gaelic
harp music and suggestions (from the very start of the revival) on how
it could be played by modern harpers. Includes some musical examples.
Gráinne Yeats ‘The
Rediscovery of Carolan’ in Integrating Tradition: The
Achievement of Seán O Riada ed. Bernard Harris &
Grattan Freyer, Irish Humanities Center & Keohanes, 1981
This, a single chapter in a book celebrating Seán's life,
covers some similar ground to Gráinne's web article The Rediscovery of Carolan but
also contains other material on Seán O Riada and the Gaelic
harp.
Many thanks to Keith Sanger and Seán Donnelly
who have pointed out many of these articles to me.
Ordering instructions: Gaelic harp articles, books, and CDs available at the Emporium.
I also will buy secondhand copies of many of these
items. Contact me with details of what you have and we can discuss
terms.
Simon Chadwick