LIBRARY
The Society has a small but growing collection of books relating to the early Irish harp. There is a Special Collection of rare, old and fragile items and a Lending Collection of items that may be borrowed by members of the Society.
The Society welcomes donations of books, or of funds to make purchases for the library. We are particularly keen to acquire copies of newly-published books and articles about the early Irish harp, and also first edition copies of the key source texts such as Bunting and Armstrong. All such donations will be acknowledged with an inscription or bookplate inside the books donated or purchased, and significant donors will be made honorary life members of the Society.
SPECIAL COLLECTION
Books in the Special Collection may be consulted by members of the Society at the HHSI library in Carrick-on-Suir by prior arrangement, or in August at Scoil na gCláirseach in Kilkenny.
Bunting, Edward, A General Collection of the Ancient Music of Ireland, Clementi & Compy, London, 1809
Fox, Charlotte Milligan, Annals of the Irish Harpers. Dutton, New York, 1912 (reprint of 1911 London edition)
O'Curry, Eugene, On The Manners And Customs Of The Ancient Irish, 3 vols, Williams and Norgate, 1873
Owenson,
Miss, [Lady Morgan], The Wild Irish Girl; A National Tale.
New York: D&G Bruce, 1807
First published in 1806, this is the 4th American edition. The book includes footnotes
quoting letter from 'Mr. O'Neill' the harper describing his harp, and
from Rev. Samson giving Denis O'Hampsey's life.
Rimmer, Joan, The Irish Harp. Mercier Press, Cork, 1969.
signed first edition
LENDING COLLECTION
Books in the Lending Collection may be borrowed for up to one month (renewable) at a time by members of the Society. Books must be collected and returned from Society Officers or HHSI teachers, usually in Dublin or Carrick-on-Suir. All books must be returned before the Summer School in August.
Arbuthnot, Sharon, (ed), Cóir Anmann: A Late Middle Irish Treatise on Personal Names Part 2 Irish Texts Society vol. LX
Armstrong, Robert Bruce, The Irish and the Highland Harps, facsimile reprint, Praeger, New York, 1969.
Beech, John; Hand, Owen; MacDonald, Fiona; Mulhern, Mark A; & Weston, Jeremy (eds) Scottish Life and Society, A Compendium of Scottish Ethnology, Volume 10: Oral Literature and Performance Culture published by John Donald in association with the European Ethnological Research Centre and National Museums Scotland, 2007
Bergin, Osborn Irish Bardic Poetry. Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies 2003
Billinge, Michael, and Shaljean, Bonnie, The Dalway or Fitzgerald Harp (1621), offprint from 'Early Music' May 1987
Donated and signed by both authors
Bowie, John Collection of Strathspey Reels and Country Dances1789, CDR facsimile, Taigh na Teud 2005.
Bunting, Edward A General Collection of The Ancient Irish Music London, Dublin 1796; A General Collection of The Ancient Music of Ireland London 1809; The Ancient Music of Ireland Dublin 1840. Facsimile Reprint, Waltons 2002.
[Bunting, Edward] ed. O'Sullivan, Donal with Ó Súilleabháin, Mícheál Bunting's Ancient Music of Ireland edited from the original manuscripts Cork University Press, 1983
[Bunting, Edward] Moloney, Colette The Irish Music Manuscripts of Edward Bunting (1773-1843): An Introduction and Catalogue Irish Traditional Music Archive, 2000
[Carolan, Turlough] Ó Máille, Tomás Amhráin Cearballáin: The Poems of Carolan Together with Other N. Connacht and S. Ulster Lyrics, Volume XVII, Irish Texts Society, London 1916, 1988
[Carolan, Turlough] O'Sullivan, Donal, Carolan: The Life, Times and Music of an Irish Harper. Celtic Music, 1983. Two volumes, reprint of the 1958 edition
[Carolan, Turlough] O'Sullivan, Donal, Carolan: The Life, Times and Music of an Irish Harper. Ossian, 2001
Reprint including an appendix by Bonnie Shaljean with extra tunes, some from the otherwise unpublished Maclean-Clephane manuscript. Donated and signed by Bonnie Shaljean.
[Carolan, Turlough] Complete Works of O'Carolan, Ossian Publishing, 1984
This is a reprint of the tune settings by Donal O'Sullivan but
without his commentary, and with an introduction by Gráinne
Yeats.
Cathcart, Cynthia, From My Music Stand, Highland Circle Publishing 2001
Cathcart, Cynthia, Pathway, a Primer for the Wire Strung Harp, Highland Circle Publishing 2003
Cathcart, Cynthia, Traditional Beginnings for Celtic Harp, Highland Circle Publishing 2001
Cambrensis, Giraldus (Gerald of Wales), Topographia Hibernia: The History and Topography of Ireland. Penguin Classics 1982.
Chappell, William, The Ballad Literature and Popular Music of Olden Time, introduction by Frederick W. Sternfield. 2 vols, Dover reprints, 1965.
Cheape, Hugh, Bagpipes: A National Collection of a National Instrument, National Museums Scotland, 2008
includes CD-Rom
Cripps, Wayne; Graham, George Farquhar (eds) The Straloch Manuscript Lyre Publications, Fort Worth, USA. ND.
Modern edition in lute tablature
Cunliffe, Barry, The Celts: A Very Short Introduction, OUP, 2003
[Donnelly, Seán] Ulster Folklife, Ulster Folk and Transport Museum (MAGNI) 2000 (includes 'An Eighteenth Century Minister and Piper' by Seán Donnelly)
Dow, Daniel, Collection of Ancient Scots Music. Edinburgh 1776, bound photocopy facsimile, published by the Scottish Music Centre.
Durando, Furio Greece: Splendours of an Ancient Civilisation
Thames and Hudson 2005
Includes pictures of the cyclades harper statuettes
Fletcher, Alan, Drama and the Performing Arts in Pre-Cromwellian Ireland: Sources and Documents from the Earliest Times until c.1642. D.S. Brewer, Cambridge, 2001
Fontana, Eszter; Heller, Viet; & Lieberwirth, Steffen, Wenn Engel Musizieren: Musikinstrumente von 1594 im Freiberger Dom. Verlag Janos Stekovics, 2008
In German, with English summary. "When Angels Make Music: Musical Instruments from 1594 in Freiberg Cathedral". 2nd edition.
Fraser, Angus, The Angus Fraser Collection of Scottish Gaelic Airs. Taigh na Teud, Scotland, 1996
Fraser, Simon, The Airs and Melodies Peculiar to the Highlands of Scotland And The Isles. Facsimile reprint of 1874 edition published by Scott's Highland Services, Ontario, 2002
Gillen, Gerard, & White, Harry, (Eds) Irish Musical Studies Vol II Music and the Church, Irish Academic Press 1993
Martha Goodway & Jay Scott Odell , The Metallurgy of 17- and 18th-Century Music Wire, Pendragon Press, New York, 1987
Grijp, Louis, and Mook, Willem Proceedings of the International Lute symposium Utrecht 1986 STIMU, Utrecht, 1988
Gunn, John,
An Historical Enquiry respecting the Performance on the Harp in the Highlands of Scotland, ScotDisc CD-ROM, 2005
PDF facsimile of the first edition published by
Archibald Constable, Edinburgh, and John Murray, London, 1807
Harper, Sally Music in Welsh Culture Before 1650: A Study of the Principal Sources. Ashgate, Aldershot, 2007
Hast, Dorothea E., & Scott, Stanley, Music in Ireland, OUP USA 2004
includes audio CD
Heymann, Ann, Coupled Hands for Harpers, Clairseach Music 2001
Heymann, Ann. A Gaelic Harper's First Tunes, Clairseach Music 1998
Heymann, Ann, Legacy of the 1792 Belfast Harp Festival, Clairseach Publications 1992
Hunter, Jim, The Broighter Gold Hoard,
Undated. University of Ulster
Donated and signed by the author
Hunter, Jim, O'Hampsey: The Last of the Bards ,
1998 Centre for Irish Literature and Bibliography, University of Ulster at Coleraine
Donated and signed by the author
Hunter, Jim,
The Blind Fiddler from Myroe,
1998 rep. 2000 Centre for Irish Literature and Bibliography, University of Ulster at Coleraine
Donated and signed by the author
Hunter, Jim,
Rory Dall O'Cahan: Chieftain and Harper,
1999 Centre for Irish Literature and Bibliography, University of Ulster at Coleraine
Donated and signed by the author
Hunter, Jim,
The Ancient Road Through Magilligan,
2001 Cranagh Press. Centre for Irish Literature and Bibliography, University of Ulster at Coleraine
Donated and signed by the author
Johnson, Roy, Bunting's Messiah, Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society in association with the Ulster Historical Foundation 2003
Donated and signed by the author
Keenan, Brian, Turlough, a Novel, Random House, London 2000
Knott, Eleanor, An Introduction to Irish Syllabic Poetry of the Period 1200-1600. Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies 2005
[Lawes, William] Murray Lefkowitz (ed), William Lawes: Select Consort Music Musica Britannica XXI, 1963
Lawes, William The Harp Consorts PRB, 2007
Lawrence-King, Andrew, Der Harpffenschlaeger: an Introduction to "Authentic" technique for Early Harps, Kings Music, Huntingdon, 1988
Marsden, John, Galloglas: Hebridean and West Highland Mercenary Warrior Kindreds in Medieval Ireland, Tuckwell Press 2003
di Martino, Vittorio, Roman Ireland, The Collins Press 2003
2006 reprint
Maccurtain, Margaret, Tudor and Stuart Ireland: The Gill History of Ireland vol 7, Gill and Macmillan [1972]
MacDonald, Patrick Collection of Highland Vocal Airs, 1784, new edition , Taigh na Teud 2000
MacDonnell, Randal, The Lost Houses of Ireland: A Chronicle of Great Houses and the Families Who Lived There, Weidenfeld and Nicolson LTD, London 2002
MacFarlane, Ronn, The Scottish Lute vol. 2, The Highland King Mel Bay Publications, USA, 2003
MacNeill, Seumas, Piobaireachd, BBC 1968
Magee, John, The Heritage of the Harp: The Linen Hall Library and the Preservation of Irish Music, Linen Hall Library, Belfast, 1992
Manning, Gosling and Waddell, Ed., New Survey of Clare Island, Vol. 4, The Abbey, Royal Irish Academy, Dublin 2005
[New History of Ireland] Ó
Cróinín, Dáibhí, A New History of Ireland, Vol I: Prehistoric and Early Ireland , Oxford University Press, 2005
Includes an important chapter 'Music in Prehistoric and Medieval Ireland' by Ann Buckley
[New History of Ireland] Cosgrove, Art, A New History of Ireland, Vol II: Medieval Ireland 1169-1534, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1993
Ní Uallacháin, Pádraigín A Hidden Ulster - People, songs and traditions of Oriel. Four Courts Press 2003
O Baoill, Colm, Gair nan Clàrsach, Birlinn 1994
O'Brien, Jacqueline and Guinness, Desmond, Great Irish Houses and Castles, Weidenfeld and Nicolson LTD, London 1992
Ó Brógáin, Séamus, The Wolfhound Guide to the Irish Harp Emblem, Wolfhound Press, Dublin, 1998
Ó Canainn, Tomás, Traditional Music in Ireland
O'Connor, Thomas & Lyons, Mary Ann Editors, Irish Migrants in Europe after Kinsale 1602-1820. Four Courts Press 2003
O'Curry, Eugene, On the Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish (volume 3 only), Kessinger reprint c. 2007
Ó Madagáin, Breandán Caointe agus Seancheolta Eile: Keening and other Old Irish Musics. Cló Iar-Chonnachta 2005
O'Rahilly, Cecile, Ed., Táin Bó Cúalnge from the Book of Leinster, Volume XLIX, Irish Texts Society by special arrangement with the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies 1969
Oswald, James The Caledonian Pocket Companion Volume One (Books 1 - 6). CDR facsimile and edition by John and Barbara Purser and Nick Parkes, 2006
Oswald, James The Caledonian Pocket Companion Volume Two (Books 7 - 12). CDR facsimile and edition by John and Barbara Purser and Nick Parkes, 2007
Parker, Mike, Child of Pure Harmony: A Source Book for the Single-action harp, lulu.com 2005
also a companion video CD
[Petrie, George] Cooper,
David (ed) The Petrie Collection of the Ancient Music of Ireland.
Cork University Press 2002
This is a modern edition of George Petrie's 1855 published
book, with just under 200 tunes, each with extensive text describing
the tune.
Petrie, George, edited by Stanford, Charles Villers The Complete Petrie Collection of Ancient Irish Music. Llanerch Press, facsimile reprint of the 1902-5 edition.
This is an edition of all the tunes - about 1,600 - in George Petrie's
manuscripts, including duplicates and variants, with no texts or
descriptions.
Porter, James (ed) Defining Strains: The Musical Life of Scots in the Seventeenth CenturyStudies in the History and Culture of Scotland 2, Peter lang, Berne, 2007.
Purser, John, Scotland's Music, Mainstream, London, 2nd edition, 2007.
Rensch, Rosalyn, The Harp, its History, Technique and Repertoire. Duckworth 1969
Rimmer, Joan The Irish Harp. Mercier Press, Cork, 1969.
[Rory Dall] Matheson, William, The Blind Harper - the songs of Roderick Morison and his music, Scottish Gaelic Texts Society, 1970
Sanger, Keith & Kinnaird, Alison Crann nan Teud - Tree of Strings. A history of the Harp in Scotland. Kinmor 1992.
van Schaik, Martin, The Harp in the Middle Ages - The Symbolism of a Musical Instrument, Rodopi, Amsterdam & New York, revised edition 2005
van Schaik, Martin, (ed), Aspects of the Historical Harp: Proceedings of the International Historical Harp Symposium Utrecht 1992, STIMU Foundation for Historical Performance Practice, Utrecht, 1994
Segerman, Ephraim, The Development of Western European Stringed Instruments, lulu.com for Northern Renaisance Instruments, Manchester, 2006.
[Sileas] Ó Baoill, Colm, Bàrdachd Shìlis na Ceapaich / Poems and Songs by Sileas MacDonald c.1660 - c.1729, Scottish Gaelic Texts Society 1972
Stevens, George, The Irish Harp, Its History, Players and Technique, Dissertation, London College of Furniture, May 1994
Toivanen, Pekka, The Pencerdd's Toolkit: Cognitive and Musical Heirarchies in Medieval Welsh Harp Music, Jyväskylä Studies in the Arts 78, University of Jyväskylä, 2001
Includes audio CD
Toner, Gregory (ed), Bruiden da Choca: The Hostel of Da Coca, Irish Texts Society vol. LXI
Tremain, Rose, Music & Silence, Chatto & Windus, London 1999
Uttley, Alison, A Traveller in Time, Illustrated by Phyllis Bray, Faber and Faber LTD, London 1939
Vallely, Fintan (ed), The Companion to Irish Traditional Music, Cork University Press, 1999
Yeats, Gráinne
The Harp of Ireland
Belfast Harpers' Bicentenary Ltd, 1992
Copies of Historic Musical Instruments CIMCIM Publications No. 3, 1994 (text available online)
Foclóir Stairiúil Áitainmneacha na Gaeilge - Historical Dictionary of Gaelic Placenames, published by the Irish Texts Society.
Fascicule 1 (names in A-), 2003, & Fascicule 2 (names in B-), 2006.
PERIODICALS
An Piobaire Vol 4 No. 16, July 2002
includes a photo of Jimmy O'Brien-Moran with an antique replica Trinity College harp
Early Music
April 1977, Vol 5 No.2
May 1987, "Plucked Strings" issue
May 2000, "Early Music of Ireland" issue
2007 to date
Galpin Society Journal
vol. XVII, February 1964.
Contains Joan Rimmer's article 'The Morphology of the Irish Harp'
volume 50, 1997
includes articles by Bob Evans, 'A copy of the Downhill harp',
and Joan Rimmer, 'Harp function in Irish eulogy and complaint - two
late examples', as well as a note on female figures on depictions of
Irish harps in heraldry.
Journal of Music in Ireland, Vol. 6 No. 4, July and August 2006, also 2007 to date.
UCC News, June 2007
article by Mícheal Ó Geállabháin
Wire Strings
Vol 1 Issue 1 (June 2006) to date
Quarterly newsletter issued by the Wire Branch of the Scottish Clarsach Society, edited by Karen Marshalsay.
PLANS & DRAWINGS
The HHSI Library is assembling a collection of drawings of historical harps from around the world. These may be consulted at the HHSI library in Carrick-on-Suir by prior arrangement, or in August at Scoil na gCláirseach in Kilkenny.
David Kortier, Student Harp Templates:
The Queen Mary Harp, Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh
The Trinity College Harp, Trinity College Library, Dublin
The Downhill Harp, Guinness Brewery Company, Dublin
The Castle Otway Harp, Trinity College Library, Dublin
The Lamont Harp, Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston:
anonymous German harp c. 1700 (17.1785)
Drawn by Stephen Korbet and measured by John Koster
Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg:
Gothic harp 1st half of 16th century (MI 59)
Drawn by Annette Stein, 1986
RECORDINGS
Armstrong, Siobhán Cláirseach na hÉireann - The Harp of Ireland Maya MCD0401, 2004
Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra and Chorus, Johann Georg Conradi: Ariadne CPO 777 073-2
with Maxine Eilander, baroque German harp
Bragod Kaingk self-published, 2004
Cathcart, Cynthia Alchemy of a Rose Highland Circle HCM51886, 2002
Chadwick, Simon Clàrsach na Bànrighe earlygaelicharp.info EGH1 2008
Dooley, Paul Rip the Calico PDCD001 1996
Dooley, Paul Music from the Robert ap Huw Manuscript PDCD002, 2004
Ex Cathedra (Jeffrey Skidmore) New World Symphonies - Baroque Music from South America
Hyperion CDA67380, 2003
With Siobhán Armstrong, baroque Spanish harp
Fitkin Wall, Still Warm, GFCD 060706, 2007
Includes one track played on a HHSI Student Trinity harp by Ruth Wall
Gabrieli Consort and Players (Paul McCreesh)
Music for the Duke of Lerma
Deutsche Grammophon 471 694-2, 2002
With Siobhán Armstrong, baroque Spanish harp
Galassi, Mara. Il Viaggio di Lucrezia Glossa GCD921301
Gothic Voices (Christopher Page) A Song for Francesca - Music in Italy 1330-1430 Hyperion CDA66286
Heymann, Ann & Kinnaird, Alison The Harper's Land Temple Records 1983
Heymann, Ann Queen of Harps Temple Records COMD2057, 1994
Heymann, Ann Cruit go nÓr Clairseach Records CMCD 0706 2006
Kinnaird, Alison The Harp Key Temple Records
Kinnaird, Alison The Silver String Temple Records CD2096, 2004
Lawrence-King, Andrew The Harp of Ludovico Hyperion CDA66518
Lawrence-King, Andrew La Harpe Royale Deutsche Harmonia Mundi 05472 77371 2
[Lawrence-King, Andrew], The Harp Consort Spanish Dances Deutsche Harmonia Mundi 05472-77340-2
[Lawrence-King, Andrew], The Harp Consort Exquisite Consorts Berlin Classics 0011552BC (1995)
[Lawrence-King, Andrew], Anonymous 4, Wolcum Yule, Harmonia Mundi HMU 907325
Lynaugh, Jacqueline, Tales from the Ends of the Earth and Beyant
MacDonald, Allan, Dastirum, Siubhal 2, 2007
includes one track on early Irish harp by Javier Sáinz
MacKillop, Rob, Flowers of the Forest Greentrax CDTRAX 155
Matheson, William Gaelic Bards and Minstrels Scottish Tradition 16, Greentrax CDTRAX 9016D, 1993
Unaccompanied Scottish Gaelic seann-nos singing
Mayor, Violaine Danse avec les Fées Hent Telenn Breizh, 1996
Mayor, Violaine Strujenn Haleg Vocation VOC039, 2001
Mayor, Violaine & Le Lay, Jakeza Bretaigne est Poésie Vocation Records VOC044, 2002
Musica Freybergensis (Roland Wilson), Wenn Engel Musizieren, Raum Klang RK 2404/5
With Johanna Seitz, harp
Les Sacqueboutiers The Cries of London Ambroisie AMB 9965, 2004
Scottish Tradition 2, Music from the Western isles Greentrax CDTRAX 9002
Also an A5 stapled booklet of the same title with track listings etc.
Sinfonye (Stevie Wishart) Bella Domna Hyperion CDA66283
[Taylor, William], The Rowallan Consort, Notes of Noy, Notes of Joy Temple Records COMD2058, 1994
Taylor, William Two Worlds of the Welsh Harp Dorian DOR-90260 CD 1999
Scotland's Music: Selected Works from the History of Scotland's Music Linn CKD008, 1992
CONTACT
For more information or to make a donation please contact
The Librarian
Historical Harp Society of Ireland
Kilballyquilty
Carrick-on-Suir
Co. Waterford
Ireland
Tel: +353 (0)51 646286
E: library@irishharp.org
Last updated June 2008
