A Bit of Irish Harp History

From Guest Blogger and wonderful Celtic harpist, Eliseo Mauas Pinto, here is a brief history of the Celtic harp. This is an excerpt from his article, "Why the "Trinity Harp" is also known as the "Brian Boru's Harp?":



The "Brian Boru" harp, now at Trinity College, Dublin, bears the coat of arms of the O'Neills but although there are many theories about its ownership through the centuries, none can be substantiated, with no verifiable evidence remaining to indicate the harp's original owner, or subsequent owners over the next two to three hundred years until it passed to Henry McMahon, of Co. Clare, and finally to The Rt. Hon. William Conyngham, who presented it to Trinity College in Dublin in 1760.

Throughout its history the harp was in the possession of of many people some of which were kings.

Related Harps

The Trinity College harp is currently displayed in the long room at Trinity College Dublin. It is an early Irish harp or wire strung cláirseach. It is dated to the 14th or 15th century and along with the Queen Mary Harp and the Lamont Harp, is one of the only three surviving medieval Gaelic harps.

Related to the Trinity College Harp, there are two greatest medieval harps of Scotland, the "Queen Mary" and the "Lamont" harps. Both kept in the National Museum of Antiquities in Edinburgh.

Both “low headed” Celtic harps date from the 15th Century, and each is from a single piece of wood, possibly hornbeam, hollowed out from the back. The Lamont harp, which is unadorned, is the larger harp at 37 ½ “, with 32 wire strings.The Queen Mary is ornately carved with intricate designs, including griffins, a lion, a dragon and a unicorn, almost 31” high, with 30 wire strings. 

The Trinity College harp is the national symbol of Ireland, being depicted on national heraldry, Euro coins and Irish currency. A left-facing image of this instrument was used as the national symbol of Ireland from 1922, and was specifically granted to the State by the Chief Herald of Ireland in 1945.

A right-facing image was registered as a trade mark for Guinness in 1862, and was first used on their labels in 1876.

All three surviving Gaelic harps (the others are the Lamont Harp and the Queen Mary Harp) are considered to have been made in Argyll in South-West Scotland sometime in the 14th-15th century.

Celtic Holiday Gift Baskets

I’ll admit that I haven’t put a lot of time into my postings as of late....I have two new CDs coming out that should be available for your holiday shopping! So, I’ve been thinking about creating holiday gift baskets to add to my website store.

Of course I’ll include my CDs, and here are some of the other items I am thinking of including:

• One or two tea cups filled with Irish Breakfast tea bags
• A Celtic bookmark
• Celtic beads or pendants
and ???

What would you like to see in my Celtic music holiday gift baskets?

Interesting Facts About The Emerald Isle

I just recently came across this blog and I wanted to share the posting with you. You can read the original post here.

Irish Flag
Ireland’s national flag know as the tricolour (three colours) and has three equal vertical bands of green, white and orange. The green symbolises Nationalism, the white symbolises Peace and the orange symbolises Unionism, therefore the national flag of Ireland represents peace between Nationalists and Unionists.

President Flag
The national flag of the President of Ireland is a blue flag with a silver stringed gold harp. The blue background represents Saint Patrick who is the patron saint of Ireland. Although St. Patrick is often depicted in green garments, before the 20th century the saint was more often shown wearing blue garments. This flag represent “the Ancient Colours of Ireland”.

National Anthem of Ireland
The National Anthem of Ireland is called Amhrán na bhFiann which means ‘The Soldiers Song’. Amhrán na bhFiann was very popular among Irish republicans, and was sung by rebels in the General Post Office also known as the GPO during the Easter Rising of 1916. The song became the official state anthem in 1926.

The anthem of the Irish rugby home team is called ‘Ireland’s Call’ and at matches played in the Republic of Ireland both Amhrán na bhFiann and Ireland’s Call are sung, elsewhere, Ireland’s Call is the only anthem used in recognition of the need for a unifying anthem and has also been adopted by the Irish Cricket, Hockey and Rugby Union teams.

The Shamrock
The shamrock is a three-leafed clover and is a world-renowned symbol of Ireland. The Shamrock was used by Saint Patrick (the patron saint of Ireland) to explain the Holy Trinity to the pre-Christian Irish. Saint Patrick’s day is celebrated throughout the world each year on March 17th and it is tradition that people wear a shamrock on their clothing and dress in green to honour Saint Patrick and celebrate being Irish, like we need a reason! Shamrocks are said to bring good luck.

Celtic Cross
A Celtic cross is a symbol of a cross with a circle surrounding the intersection of the cross. The cross often appears in different shapes, sizes, and in many different styles. It is said that Saint Patrick was also the founder of the Celtic cross and that he used the ’sun cross’ as an example to explain to pagans the importance of the cross.

Today the Celtic cross is used for individual reasons like jewellery, T-shirts and tattoos, grave markers and head stones to name a few. Versions of the Celtic cross are also used by the GAA / Gaelic Athletic Association and the Northern Ireland national football team.

About Mairead Foley
Mairead writes for GoIreland.com - Ireland’s leading travel and accommodation website.

Celtic Art and Designs

Celtic artwork dates back to 3,000 B.C. and can still be seen on stone carvings throughout Ireland. Much of the current fascination with Celtic art may have originated with the Book of Kells, an eighth century manuscript currently house at Trinity College in Dublin. This book features knots, and animal designs. The Celts created their designs using one or several unbroken lines. They believed that the more these lines interlaced each other, the greater their protection against evil. The unbroken lines symbolized infinity.

Celtic wedding rings may be made of one of these unique design styles, the most popular of which is know as the Celtic love knot. The lines of the Celtic love knot are forever entwined, as the two separate lives become one. Animal designs are also used. One of the most popular animals used for Celtic wedding rings is the heron, because herons mate for life.

Other Celtic symbols, including the Celtic cross, a family coat of arms, and horseshoes with the open ends up (so that the good luck won't run out), may be used to adorn invitations, napkins, wrappings for favors, and embroidered into the wedding dress and the bride's hanky. National Celtic symbols are also used as wedding decorations: the thistle to display Scottish heritage, the leek for Welsh heritage, and the shamrock for Irish heritage.

Copyright © 2005 by Anne Roos, excerpt from the liner notes to "Haste to the Wedding" CD, available on the Cambria Master Recordings Label. All rights reserved.