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Simon Chadwick's
Early Gaelic Harp Emporium

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Lyres

Uamh an Ard Achaidh lyre bridge reconstruction
Copy of the prehistoric Skye lyre bridge; click to enlarge

Lyres are very different from harps, with a tradition and heritage of their own. Lyres are shown on some Early medieval Irish and Scottish stone crosses from over 1000 years ago, and the oldest musical instrument from Western Europe is the 2500 year old lyre bridge from the Isle of Skye in Scotland.

Irish lyre

I have been working on developing an early medieval Scottish or Irish lyre, with strings of iron, brass and silver.

Professional quality lyres can be made by Michael King and set up by myself with metal strings as above. I can also supply strings or complete stringsets for you to install on your own lyre. Please enquire for availability and pricing.

I can also offer a copy of the Iron age Scottish lyre bridge from Uamh an Ard Achaidh (High Pasture Cave), on the Isle of Skye. Hand-carved to order from local Scottish timber. There are various options in reconstructing the broken original to accomodate from 3 up to 9 strings. Please enquire for details.

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Early Gaelic Harp Info
about this site   © Simon Chadwick
First published 1st October 2012.