Scoil director (and renowned harpist) Siobhán Armstrong writes for Culture about this year's Festival of Early Irish Harp, which runs in Kilkenny from August 15-21st forthcoming.
You might expect Ireland to host a few summer harp festivals given that an image of a harp is the national emblem. But a unique one takes place in Kilkenny each August. Called Scoil na gCláirseach [the harp school], this festival is dedicated to the rediscovery of the ancient Irish harp.
Why ‘rediscovery’? Sure haven’t we always played the harp here? Well yes and no. A little background may be helpful: The image you know well from Irish coins and official Irish documents shows an ancient Irish harp of the kind which was played for 800+ years until it died out two centuries ago. But this instrument was replaced by a more modern harp which now goes by the same name. Hence the confusion.
You may never have heard the early Irish harp before, though its image is well-known from the Irish Euro and from official Irish documents. Played by the famous Turlough Carolan, among others, until the turn of the nineteenth century, this rather special, rare Irish harp – with brass-wire strings and mostly played with the fingernails – is very different to its modern, nylon-strung counterpart. It is now being rediscovered and its beauty is attracting people to it from Ireland and from all around the world, many of whom meet in Kilkenny each August.
WATCH: Scoil na gClairseach—Festival of Early Irish Harp
PLAY THE HARP
If you are interested in learning to play the harp, you can join us for the full intensive week of daily events from 8:45am to 6:45pm including morning players’ sessions, afternoon workshops, evening lectures and concerts. In our players’ sessions, we cater for beginners up to professional harpists. No musical experience is required. Curious players of other kinds of harps are also very welcome. A limited number of rental harps is available on a first-come, first-served basis.
If you want to dip just a toe in the water then you can come to our one-hour Taster Session on Wednesday, August 15 at 3.00 p.m. where you can hear, see and try out a copy of an early Irish harp. Do book in advance to be sure of a place and of getting your hands on a beautiful harp on the day!
WATCH: Early Irish Harp Discovery Day, March 2018
CONCERTS, LECTURES, WORKSHOPS
If you don’t fancy actually taking to the strings yourself you can discover the splendour of the original Irish harp in our four concerts given by some of the world’s best historical Gaelic harpers, singers and pipers. Each concert is preceded by a talk and you can also listen to workshops and masterclasses each day. You can also join us on our guided field trip around Dublin on 21 August for a rare opportunity to see surviving instruments in museums and other collections.
Find out more about (and book tickets for) the Festival of Early Irish Harp here.
