Late 18th and early 19th century Gaelic harps

There are a number of instruments dated to the late 18th and early 19th centuries. By this late date the Gaelic harp tradition was in severe decline; the Belfast harpers' meeting of 1792 attracted only a handful of mostly elderly men, and within a decade the tradition was reduced to charitable schools for blind boys. These harps shown here do not share many of the features common in the earlier Gaelic harps, instead being based largely on European pedal harp technology. Most notably this means the soundbox is built from thin planks with a cross-grain softwood soundboard, is deeper at the treble than the bass and has a sloping bottom to provide a stand for the harp. They are included as "Gaelic harps" only because they were intended to be a part of the tradition, and they do still make use of metal strings instead of the pedal harp's gut.

The V&A harp

Dated to the late 18th or early 19th Century

Owned by the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England.

"High Headed" design;
38 strings, longest 107cm

Some have tried to argue that this was the harp of Arthur O'Neill (1734-1818), based on the similarity with the harp in his portrait. However certain details differ, most notably the number of strings. This harp's construction differs from the pre-1800 Irish harps in that it has a crossgrained softwood soundboard, and an oblique base allowing it to balance upright in a playing position, both features derived from pedal harp design. This has led some to suggest it dates from the 19th Century, perhaps made by someone without real knowledge of either the Gaelic harp or pedal harp traditions.

References

The Charlemont Harp

Late 18th or early 19th century

28 strings, longest approx. 85cm

Originally owned by Mary, Countess of Charlemont (d. 1807)

This harp is painted green and decorated with gilding; both the tapered round-back slope-based soundbox and the straight pillar with coronet and cap at the top copy the design of a European pedal harp. It belonged to Prof. Glover of Dublin in the early 20th century. It only squeaks in here by having metal strings and an Irish provenance.

References

Harp in Collins Barracks

Also known as Hempson harp

Early 19th century?

This harp is styled after a pedal harp, with cylindrical pillar. The Hempson attribution is obviously spurious

References

Rainie's harp

Made by Goudy of Belfast, early 19th century

This instrument is preserved in Collins Barracks, Dublin. It is said to have belonged to Valentine Rainey, Master of the Belfast Harp Society School (1823 - 1827), and to have been made by Goudy, Belfast. It seems based on the design of the Egan/Hewson Society harps (see below) using a spare pedal harp body, but in this case the pedal box has also been retained! It bears tuning pins and bridge pins but no strings.

References

Society harps

Made by John Egan, a Dublin pedal harp maker, and later by his nephew Francis Hewson, between 1820 and 1840

37 strings, longest 136cm (on Armstrong's example)

These instruments were of large high-headed design. Their soundboxes appear to have been spare pedal harp bodies; the neck and pillar being very plain and of a curious curving shape similar to Egan's "newly invented Portable harp" with gut strings, the predecessor of the modern lever harp. I am not sure how many are extant; Patrick Byrne had one that was decorated with golden shamrocks, which after his death was allegedly preserved in a house in North East Ireland but no-one I know has ever seen it. Petrie owned one in the mid 19th century; Armstrong owned on at the beginning of the 20th century; there is at least one in Collins Barracks which I have never seen; there is one in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.

Byrne with
Egan harp
(RBA 1904)

Joan Rimmer slated these instruments in her 1969 book as "nightmare parodies of the old Irish harp" and criticises their "peculiarly unattractive" tone. However as her only concrete complaint was that their sound is "excessively long-lasting unless damped" - hardly a fault in an early Irish harp - we should not put too much store by her comments.

Despite their late date I am happy for them to be included as "Gaelic harps" because not only did they have brass wire strings, and were played by harpers who had been taught by students of Arthur O'Neill and Patrick Quin, but at least one of those harpers, Patrick Byrne, knew of the old term "na cawlee" (as he put it) and so presumably used this distinctive feature of Gaelic harp tuning.

References

Simon Chadwick