The Dalway harp, Cloyne harp, or Fitzgerald harp is an early modern

Irish harp The Celtic harp is a triangular frame harp traditional to the Celtic nations of northwest Europe. It is known as in Irish, in Scottish Gaelic, in Breton and in Welsh. In Ireland and Scotland, it was a wire-strung instrument requiring grea ...

whose extant fragments are in the

National Museum of Ireland – Decorative Arts and History The National Museum of Ireland – Decorative Arts and History ( ga, Ard-Mhúsaem na hÉireann – Na hEalaíona Maisiúla ⁊ Stair) is a branch of the National Museum of Ireland (NMI) located at the former Collins Barracks in the Arbour Hill ...

. It made in 1621 by Donnchadh fitz Teig () for Sir John MacEdmond Fitzgerald of

Cloyne Cloyne () is a small town to the southeast of Midleton in eastern County Cork. It is also a see city of the Anglican (Church of Ireland) Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, while also giving its name to a Roman Catholic diocese. St Colman's Ca ...

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns a ...

(grandson of John Fitzedmund Fitzgerald of

Youghal Youghal ( ; ) is a seaside resort town in County Cork, Ireland. Located on the estuary of the River Blackwater, the town is a former military and economic centre. Located on the edge of a steep riverbank, the town has a long and narrow layout. ...

). Richly carved, with 52 strings, it was originally painted in bright colours and has inscriptions in Latin and Irish, including "I am the queen of harps". These were translated by Eugene O'Curry. It was described in 1809 in

Edward Bunting Edward Bunting (1773–1843) was an Irish musician and folk music collector. Life Bunting was born in County Armagh, Ireland. At the age of seven he was sent to study music at Drogheda and at eleven he was apprenticed to William Ware, organist ...

's ''Irish Melodies'', which has an engraving of it as its frontispiece. At that time it was owned by the Dalway family of Bellahill,

Carrickfergus Carrickfergus ( , meaning " Fergus' rock") is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It sits on the north shore of Belfast Lough, from Belfast. The town had a population of 27,998 at the 2011 Census. It is County Antrim's oldest ...

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

. Correspondence from about 1849 records that Marriott Dalway snr believed the harp had been "found in a bog near

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic territory) is a town on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, with a population of 18,755 at the 2011 Census. It is a major passenger and freight roll-on roll-off port. Larne is administered by Mid ...

". By 1809 the sound board had been lost; in 1849 Dalway said it had been lent to a "Mrs Sherrard, a native of Dungannon ... living in Thorndale, Dublin" to transcribe its inscriptions; however, Armstrong says it was the forearm (pillar) that was lent to Sherrard, since only one piece, probably the harmonic curve ( neck), was exhibited in Belfast in 1852. The remains came into the Royal Irish Academy collection in 1876/7. Along with the

Trinity College Harp The Trinity College harp, also known as "Brian Boru's harp", is a medieval musical instrument on display in the long room at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland. It is an early Irish harp or wire-strung cláirseach. It is dated to the 14th or 15th ...

, it was one of two harps used as a model for the harp on the

obverse Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ...

of the coins of the Irish Free State. Several reconstructions have been made, replacing the missing sound board, including at the Irish Industrial Exhibition in Cork in 1852, and for the National Museum in the 1990s.

References

Sources

* * * * *

Citations

Individual harps Irish musical instruments 1621 works 1620s in music History of County Cork FitzGerald dynasty {{harp-stub