A Visit to the Trinity College Harp

Guest blogger Jason Hall shares his experience of visiting the Trinity College harp:

"I recently had the good fortune to visit Ireland, the old country of some of my ancestors, and, like any good cultural historical tourist, I visited the Trinity College Library. They're famous for a collection of old and rare books. While most of Europe was soaking in the Dark Ages, Celtic monks kept learning alive and paginated. I walked though the dim rooms, viewing the Book of Kells and other illuminated incunabula. 

Then, I emerged as from a dark wood to view that willow instrument to familiar from teh cans of Guinness stout. The Trinity College harp  was enclosed in glass, as sensitive to heat, moisture, and light as the manuscripts. It is stringless now and stouter than any beer, in delicate appearance, even for a clársach. I don't know when it was last actually played, but I imagine it has a bit of that clangy resonance I love so dearly.

The Trinity College harp was claimed to have belonged to 11th century Irish king Brian Boru, although it more likely dates to the 15th century. Still, it is one of only three surviving medieval Gaelic harps, and the only one in Ireland. It outlasted other contemporary or earlier instruments and became the national symbol of Ireland.

While we were visiting Dublin, my mom got a tattoo of the harp:

Special thanks to guest blogger Jason Hall, author and Brand Manager for Budget Rent a Car (Brisbane, AU). He enjoys traveling immensely, as well as sharing his travels with others.

Would you like to share your love of Celtic culture, Celtic music, and Celtic harps? I'm always happy to feature guest bloggers. Contact me through the email address on my website at CelticHarpMusic.com to submit your article.

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.