Welcome to Harp Perspectives, Cruit Éireann, Harp Ireland’s online journal.
One of our strategic aims is to establish thought leadership across the harp sector by building up a body of thinking about the harp and harping through a historical and contemporary lens.
Harp Perspectives is the beginning of a conversation about harping and features key informants, harpers and non-harpers, sharing their authentic views and ideas.
We believe that this combination of scholarly research and personal insights will highlight the harping legacy inherited from our tradition bearers and help forge a contemporary harping identity, secure in its understanding of its origin and how it wishes to evolve.
ORIGINS OF THE MODERN IRISH HARP: JOHN EGAN AND JAMES MCFALL | NANCY HURRELL
Uploaded 15/05/2021
Nancy Hurrell, harpist and historian shares her thoughts about the ORIGINS OF THE MODERN IRISH HARP: JOHN EGAN AND JAMES MCFALL and describes a time when the harp faced an uncertain future in Ireland. She traces how the cultural revival movement inspired talented craftsmen to develop new forms of Irish harps and infuse new life into the tradition. She introduces us to two influential harp makers - John Egan and James McFall – and gives us a fascinating insight into their influence on the future of the harp in Ireland.
TRADITION, LINEAGE AND REVIVAL | SIMON CHADWICK
Uploaded 09/04/2021
Do you know who your teacher’s harp teacher was? Who was their harp teacher? How far back can you go? Tracing your lineage like this can give you an important sense of your place in the wider harp tradition. In Tradition, Lineage and Revival, early Irish harper and researcher, Simon Chadwick, shares his thoughts about how reflecting on our harp lineage helps us understand how the Irish harp tradition has developed and changed over time, and whether a focus on harp lineage give us any idea about how harping will continue to evolve in the future.
FINDING A VOICE: PERFORMANCE RESEARCH ON THE IRISH HARP | KATHLEEN LOUGHNANE
Uploaded 12/06/2021
Kathleen Loughnane shares an evocative picture of her harp journey from the mid sixties until now. She recounts the evening sessions at the Chariot Inn in Ranelagh where Séamus Ennis was in 'full flow', sessions with Éamonn Ó Bróithe and Liam Lewis at Club Áras na nGael in Galway and the influences on her harp playing through the years.
