Davy Patton • early Irish harps

 

Click here for a video clip of Davy explaining the making of the replica Trinity College harp (courtesy Oliver Leamy) The harps I make are copied from the ancient Gaelic harps of Ireland and the Scottish Highlands. As many as eighteen old instruments survive in museums from the 15th to the 18th centuries: Click here for a complete illustrated list.

I have great respect for the skill and judgement of the old makers, who were true masters of their art, and I enjoy the challenge of making as accurate a replica as possible, including the decoration and where possible the restoration of features now obscured or altered on the original.

I also enjoy creating new early Irish harps which follow the old tradition but which incorporate elements from more than one original or even new decorative or design features.

above left: replica of the medieval Irish 'Trinity College' harp, 2007. Read more about this replica at the Historical Harp Society of Ireland.