Celtic Harp: Triangular Frame Harp of Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Brittany

Overview

The Celtic harp is a triangular frame harp traditional to the Celtic nations of north-west Europe. It is known as cláirseach in Irish, clàrsach in Scottish Gaelic, telenn in Breton and telyn in Welsh (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtic_harp). In Ireland and Scotland it was historically a wire-strung instrument requiring great skill and long practice to play, and was traditionally associated with the Gaelic nobility of Ireland. The instrument has become a national emblem: it appears on Irish coins, on Guinness products, and on the coats of arms of the Republic of Ireland, Montserrat, Canada and the United Kingdom.

In the modern Hornbostel-Sachs classification the Celtic harp is a manually tuned frame harp (322.221), a category of composite chordophone. It is also the basis of the modern “lever harp” or clàrsach used today across folk and educational settings.

Origin and history

The early history of the triangular frame harp in Europe is contested (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_the_harp_in_Europe). The first instrument associated with the harping tradition in the Gaelic world was known as a cruit — a word possibly originally describing a different stringed instrument, etymologically related to the Welsh crwth. It has been suggested that the word clàrsach / cláirseach (from clàr / clár, “a board”) was coined for the new triangular frame harp that replaced the cruit, and that this naming was of Scottish origin. A notched piece of wood that some scholars have interpreted as part of the bridge of an Iron Age lyre dating to around 300 BC was discovered on the Isle of Skye; if confirmed it would be the oldest surviving fragment of a western European stringed instrument.

By the eleventh century the triangular harp is depicted in Gaelic art, for example on the Breac Maodhóg reliquary, and from the medieval period through the early modern era it was the high-status instrument of the Gaelic nobility. UNESCO inscribed Irish harping on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2019.

In the early nineteenth century, even as the old Gaelic harp tradition was dying out, the increasing dominance of England led Celtic nationalists to seek a distinct national identity, and a deliberate revival of the traditional harp began (http://www.earlygaelicharp.info/history/19th.htm). In Ireland the revival was led by self-taught Dublin maker John Egan. Egan had originally trained as a pedal harp maker but joined the national revival movement and created twelve new models, including the “Improved Irish Harp” (5 ft tall, conical back, flat soundboard, wire strings on a body shape derived from the pedal harp) and the influential “Portable Irish Harp” (3 ft tall, bowed pillar), which he marketed as being in “the exact form” of the famous Trinity College harp.

Construction and materials

A Celtic harp consists of three rigid wooden members forming a triangle: a curved neck across the top, a straight or slightly bowed forepillar at the front, and a soundbox below. Strings run between the neck and the soundboard, anchored at one end and tensioned by tuning pins at the other. Historic Gaelic clàrsachs were strung with brass or other metal wire, plucked with the fingernails, and played on the left shoulder. Modern revival instruments are usually strung with gut or nylon and played from the right shoulder; many are also fitted with sharping levers (often Camac or Loveland levers) on each string so that the player can change individual notes by a semitone during performance. The instrument shown above is a modern Celtic harp modelled on the historic Queen Mary Harp held in the National Museum of Scotland (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Celtic_harp_dsc05425.jpg).

Surviving historic instruments such as the Trinity College harp (also called Brian Boru’s harp, on display in the Library of Trinity College Dublin), the Queen Mary harp and the Lamont harp are the primary physical evidence for the medieval Gaelic harp’s construction, and contemporary makers continue to copy them closely.

Playing technique

The traditional Gaelic technique was to support the harp on the left shoulder and pluck the wire strings with long fingernails, using the left hand for the upper register and the right hand for the bass — the reverse of the modern pedal-harp convention. Damping was an essential part of the technique, since metal strings sustain for a long time and unwanted overlapping notes quickly muddy the texture. Modern Celtic harpists, playing nylon or gut strings on the right shoulder, use the fingertips and rely far less on damping.

Cultural context

The Celtic harp is the only musical instrument used as a national emblem of a sovereign state: the harp appears on the coat of arms of the Republic of Ireland and on Irish euro coins. It also appears on Guinness products and is incorporated into the British and Canadian royal coats of arms in reference to Ireland. UNESCO’s 2019 inscription of Irish harping recognised both the surviving historic instruments and the living tradition of teaching, repertoire and performance.

In Scotland the clàrsach was central to the music of the Gaelic-speaking aristocracy until the eighteenth century, and the Lamont and Queen Mary harps preserved in Scotland are among the very few medieval Gaelic instruments to survive in playable condition. In Brittany and Wales the harp tradition continued under the names telenn and telyn respectively, and twentieth-century revivalists such as Alan Stivell drew explicitly on this shared Celtic heritage.

Notable instruments and players

The most famous surviving historic Celtic harps are the Trinity College harp (the model for the Irish state emblem and Guinness logo), the Queen Mary harp and the Lamont harp. Modern revival players include the Breton harpist Alan Stivell, the Irish harper Derek Bell of The Chieftains, and the Scottish player Alison Kinnaird, all of whom have been central to the international visibility of the clàrsach / cláirseach tradition since the late twentieth century.

Comparison with related instruments

Compared with the orchestral pedal harp, the Celtic harp is smaller, lighter and far more portable but has a much more restricted ability to modulate (no foot pedals; sharping is done by levers operated by the left hand during performance). Compared with the Slavic gusli, the Celtic harp is a true triangular frame harp rather than a psaltery-like board zither.

FAQ

What is the difference between a Celtic harp and a regular harp?
The “regular” concert harp is the modern French double-action pedal harp, which has seven foot pedals giving full chromatic capability. A Celtic harp is smaller, has no pedals, and uses sharping levers (or no chromatic mechanism at all on historical models) operated by hand.

Was the Celtic harp originally strung with wire or with gut?
The historical Gaelic cláirseach / clàrsach of Ireland and Scotland was strung with brass or other metal wire and played with the fingernails. Modern revival instruments more commonly use gut or nylon strings played with the fingertips.

Why is the Celtic harp on Irish coins and on Guinness bottles?
The Celtic harp has been a national symbol of Ireland for centuries; the official emblem is based on the medieval Trinity College harp. Guinness adopted the same harp shape (mirrored) as its logo in 1862.

Is the Celtic harp recognised as cultural heritage?
Yes. UNESCO inscribed Irish harping on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2019.

Which historic Celtic harps still survive?
The most important surviving medieval Gaelic harps are the Trinity College harp in Dublin, and the Queen Mary harp and Lamont harp, both held in Scotland. They are the primary models for modern reproduction clàrsachs.