Cornmill welcomes the beauty of the old harps and Irish songs

Organisers of the Old Irish Harp Discovery Day (Lá na Cruite in Oileán an Ghuail) held in the Cornmill in Coalisland were delighted with the response.

Coalisland-Clonoe Irish Language group Cairde Uí Néill welcomed The Historical Harp Society of Ireland (Cumann Clairsí Stairiúla na hÉireann) as part of their national tour spreading the word of the revival of the ancient Gaelic Harp (An Chruit in Irish) and educating communities on the modern Irish Harp as well (An Chláirseach in Irish).

Úna Ní Fhlannagáin gave an enriching talk on the history of the harp which goes back thousands of years in world history, with a clear focus on the rich Irish tradition.

Úna who is from Galway, lives in Inis Meáin on the Aran Islands, gave a fantastic performance later that night at the concert on the modern Irish harp with some of her own beautifully composed songs.

Eibhlís Ní Ríordáin from Fermoy in north Cork tutored an excellent workshop on the old Irish harps with participants saying it was a great pleasure to be using the harp that the Gaelic poets and bards used for over a thousand years. Eibhlís also gave a lovely performance in the concert singing several Irish language songs with virtuoso accompaniment on the older harp.

The concert took place on the top floor of the Cornmill with excellent acoustics enhancing the tunes and songs. All in attendance agreed what was heard was unique, authentic and ‘the purest of the pure drop’.

Immediately afterwards there were suggestions that a repeat concert will be organised next year.

The combination of Doimnic Mac Giolla Bhríde’s sean-nós singing and Siobhán Armstrong’s old Irish harp playing was also a wonderful part of the day which had everyone in the audience spellbound.

Siobhán Armstrong, who is director of the Historical Harp Society of Ireland, stated that the use of the Irish Language (with some bilingual content for those learning the language) enriched all of the events on the day and has inspired them to conduct more Harp Discovery Days as Gaeilge (through Irish) from now on.

Damian Ó Néill of Cairde Uí Néill said, “It was the first of the Harp Discovery Days to be conducted in Irish throughout the country and Cairde Uí Néill are very proud to be the first host group to do so. All in all it was a brilliantly worthwhile venture for both organisations and the verdict coming out loud and clear is that you wouldn’t want to miss the next one!”