THE HARP: A VERY BRIEF HISTORY

National instrument of Ireland. The old Irish harping tradition was a highly skilled aristocratic art. Because of a series of social, political, and economic changes, it began to decline from the 16th-century onwards and as the status of the harpist diminished so the performers became increasingly poor and itinerant, and, in some cases, even blind. Despite valiant attempts to revive the harping tradition, the most notable being the Belfast Harp Festival of 1792 when Edward Bunting was employed to write down the music, the tradition was extinct by the early 19th century.

Some of the features of the older instrument and style were metal strings plucked by the fingernails, with the left hand playing the upper register. The older instrument was also nonchromatic. What is sometimes referred to as the neo-Irish harp was invented in Dublin in the early 19th century by John Egan, modeled on the concert harp. This has semi-tone levers and is played with the fleshy parts of the fingertips on gut strings, creating a very different sound. The neo-Irish harp is the instrument generally known as the Irish harp today. It has been, and a certain extent continues to be, associated with female, middle-class amateur performers, frequently as a vocal accompaniment.

The most famous harp composer was Turlough CAROLAN--almost 200 compositions attributed to him survive. In recent years the harp has become more a part of the mainstream tradition, with many prominent younger players such as Maire Ni Chathasaigh, Janet Harbison, Laoise Kelly, and Michael Rooney.

from Ciaran Brady, ed., *The Encyclopedia of Ireland* (NY: Oxford UP, 2000)