Report on the Harping Tradition in Ireland

3.14 Resources
Given the historical nature of much Irish harp repertoire, it is essential that institutions
safeguard sources and make them available in a range of formats.
The Irish Traditional Music Archive is a key resource for the Irish harping community,
but there are several other resources upon which they draw (Chart 43).
Resources Visited
ITMA (90)
33.8%
CMC (34)
12.8%
Nat. Folklore Collection, UCD (20)
7.5%
National Library of Ireland (6)
RIAM Library (4)
HHSI Library (4)
Trinity College Dublin Library (3)
Bunting Collection, QUB (3)
Other Libraries (18)
Other (13)
2.3%
1.5%
1.5%
1.1%
1.1%
6.8%
1.1%
Did not visit resource (140)
52.6%
Chart 43: (Sample: 266)
Of particular importance are resources that contain material relating to the early harping
tradition, for example, the Bunting Collection in Queen’s University Belfast. The Irish
Traditional Music Archive published a key reference work on the Bunting manuscripts
by Dr Colette Moloney in 2000, The Irish Music Manuscripts of Edward Bunting
(1773–1843): An Introduction and Catalogue.
Other resources that were mentioned include the Scottish National Library and the
Aloys Fleischmann and Donal O’Sullivan archives in University College Cork. Dónal
O’Sullivan (1893–1973) carried out key research on Carolan and published a seminal
work, Carolan – The Life and Times of an Irish Harper, in 1958.
Print resources
Cairde na Cruite has maintained a publication programme since 1975 when it published
The Irish Harp Book.
This was followed by four volumes of Soundings Harps, which are collections of early
harpers’ tunes, traditional tunes, slow airs and songs, graded according to difficulty
(beginner to senior). In 2010, to mark the 50th anniversary of the society, Cairde na
Cruite published Rogha na gCruitirí – Harpers’ Choice: 100 traditional tunes for the
Irish harp, edited by Áine Ní Dhubhghaill, Anne-Marie O’Farrell and Aibhlín McCrann,
and which contains arrangements of early harpers’ music, traditional tunes, airs, songs
and newly composed work by 53 contemporary Irish harpers.
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