Trinity college harp: Ireland musical instrument

The trinity college harp is a medieval musical instrument on display in the long room at the Trinity College Dublin in Ireland. The musical instrument is an early Irish harp or wire strung cláirseach. The musical instrument has been traced back to the 14^th century or 15^th century and, together with the Queen Mary Harp and the Lamont Harp, the instruments are the only three surviving medieval Gaelic harps.

source of picture: carverscompanion.com

It not certain who commissioned the musical instrument, although evidence opines it was manufactured in the 15^th century. The musical instrument is analogous in construction and design to the Queen Mary Clàrsach in Scotland. Meanwhile, it is likely that the musical instrument was manufactured for a member of an essential family, for it is skillfully constructed and intricately decorated.

According to Charles Vallancey writing in the year 1786, the musical instrument was reputedly once owned by Brian Boru, High King of Ireland. In the 1840, the link was dismissed by George Petrie as a clumsy falsification that will not stand for a moment the test of critical antiquarian scrutiny.

The musical instrument bears the coat of arm of the O’Neils, but even though there are many theories about the ownership of the instrument over the years, none of the theories can be sustained, with no verifiable proof remaining to specify the original owner of the instrument, or subsequent owners over the next 200 or 300 years until the instrument passed to Henry McMahon of County Clare, then to Willian Conyngham who finally presented the musical instrument to Trinity College in 1782.

The musical instrument is the national symbol of the country, Ireland, being portrayed bon national heraldry, Euro coins and the currency of the country. A left facing icon of the musical instrument was used as the national symbol of the country from the year 1922, and was specifically granted to the State by Chief Herald of the country in the year 1945. A right-facing icon was registered as a trade mark for Guinness in the 1876, though the icon was first used on the Guinness label in the year 1862. All the three surviving versions of the harp are said to have been made in Argyll in the South-West Scotland in the 14^th or 15^th century.

The musical instrument is of a small Low Headed design with brass pins for 29 strings, the longest version of the harps being 62 cm. one extra bass pin was added at some point in the playing life of the instrument. In the year 1961, the musical instrument was exhibited in London, and was dismantled and rebuilt by the British museum into the wider shape that the instrument currently has, being playable medieval form. The earliest heraldic and trade mark designs that were displayed on it were based on the thinner form because of the bad restoration in the 1830s.

In the year 2003, David Kortier of Duluth, Minnesota, created two faithful replicas from detailed measurement of the main instrument. These two harps were strung with silver and gold wire strings in the bass in order to overwhelm the slack stringing the short bass string length would have required from lighter metals.