The Irish Harp
Based on the ancient lyre, the Irish harp is one of the world’s oldest instruments. The ancient Irish kings employed harpists to entertain them. At one sad point in Irish history conquering invaders made it illegal to possess an Irish harp, and set out to burn every Irish harp in a failed attempt to kill the "Irish spirit".
Greatly honored the harp is the national emblem of Ireland. It appeared prominently on all Irish coinage until the official currency of Ireland changed to the Euro. However, you will still find the harp stamped on Ireland’s portion of the new Euro coin.
The Irish Harp has many distinguishing features such as a sounding box carved from a single block of willow wood, T-shaped fore-pillar, a heavy neck and thick brass strings. These combine to give the Harp a unique sound for which it has been famous since medieval times.
Harps from this historical past including the world famous Brian Boru harp are now housed in Trinity College and the National Museum in Dublin.
