Simon Chadwick's
Early Gaelic Harp Emporium

Books by Turlough Carolan

Tomás Ó Máille
Amhráin Chearbhalláin: The Poems of Carolan
Irish Texts Soc., No. 17, 1916
The Irish words to the songs of Carolan, and other North Connacht and South Ulster poets, with an introductions in Irish and English and detailed notes on the manuscript sources and their language, meter and vocabulary. Includes an Irish to English glossary to help you read the poems in Irish. Modern hardback facsimile reprint from the Irish Texts Society.
£26 + £2.00 (UK only - select for overseas postage) £3.00 (Airmail within Europe) £4.00 (Airmail outside Europe)

Liam P. Ó Murchú (ed)
Amhráin Chearbhalláin: The Poems of Carolan - Reassesments
Irish Texts Soc., Subsidiary Series No. 18, 2007
This slim volume contains five essays from a conference held in 2006, on various aspects of Carolan's songs. Nicholas Carolan's article on the Music is suprisingly ill-informed and old-fashioned, and seems to show no awareness of Gaelic harp scholarship of the last 30 years. Emily Cullen on Bards and Irish harping in the 18th and 19th centuries is disappointing, and appears to plagiarise this website by lifting 2 paragraphs almost verbatim and unacknowledged. The other essays are on Carolan's audience, his verse, and on Tomás Ó Máille.
£20 + £2.00 (UK only - select for overseas postage) £3.00 (Airmail within Europe) £4.00 (Airmail outside Europe)

Other Irish Text Society volumes are available by special order; please contact me for details.

Donal O'Sullivan
Carolan; the life, times, and music of an Irish harper
2 vols, Routledge and Paul, London, 1958
Vol. 1 has a life of Carolan, as well as notes on such things as his skull, his portrait (though unfortunately not his harp), and 213 tunes given in single melody line. Vol. 2 has extensive notes on each tune, the people connected with it, sources and first verses of the lyrics, and also "The Memoirs of Arthur O'Neill". The two volumes were reprinted by Celtic Music, Louth, England (1991).
Secondhand copy of the Celtic Music 2 vol paperback currently in stock, £50. contact me to reserve this copy.
A new single-volume edition by Ossian, Cork (2001) has an appendix by Bonnie Shaljean which adds a number of tunes (most of dubious attribution, many from the Maclean-Clephane ms)
This book is available new by special order only. If you would like me to get a copy for you please contact me. Secondhand copies of the 'Celtic Music' and 'Routledge' editions are sometimes available; please enquire.

Complete Collection of the Much Admired Old Irish Tunes The Original and Genuine Compositions of Carolan the Celebrated Harper and Composer (1670-1738) Suitable for Most Instruments
Ossian Publications, 1984
This rather odd book reprints Donal O'Sullivan's 1958 editions of the tunes, although you need to read the small print to find this out - the tunes are presented without commentary or notes, and also without the words - as a parade of melodies. There is also a 5 page instroduction by Gráinne Yeats, containing a brief life of Carolan. The book is of interest as it also reproduces 13 pages of music facsimile, from the anonymous Carolan Fragment, Neal, The Hiberenian Muse, Lee, one of Bunting's set mss and his printed books, Mulholland, Moore's Irish Melodies, and O'Neill. Reprinted 1989 with the title The Complete Works of O'Carolan Irish Harper and Composer (1670-1738) Suitable for All Melody Instruments. The two editions contain different facsimile plates.
Not in stock. This book very rarely appears on the market. If you would like me to look for a copy for you please contact me.