I think the decline of the harp was a coming together of a number of factors at once. Did the Treaties of Kinsale and Limerick hasten the process? To some degree, as was mentioned ( the undercutting of patronage). Someone touched on the keyboard - problem with this notion is that keyboards were existing side by side (at least in the sense of time) with the cláirseach for a long period but the rise of chromaticism in Baroque music really made the harp extinct. Ann Heymann likes to say that the Irish harp drowned in a sea of pianos. Not only did the taste in music change among the wealthy, but couple this with the passion for dancing and the poor harpers were so old fashioned that by the Belfast Festival they were seen as relics. Even then, only one of the harpers at that gathering played in the old style, with fingernails (Donnchadh Ó Hámsaigh or Denis O'Hempsey). The pastoral pipes are gaining sway, they become the union pipes and are seen as a much better accompaniment to the dance. Gentlemen pipers, ladies learning the more affordable pianoforte... the harp was relegated to a symbol of days gone by. Even Wolfe Tone, whose United Irishmen were the real force behind the festival absolutely HATED the music, as he fell asleep and was later heard to mutter 'strum, strum and be hanged'.

Come to think of it, I STILL hear that phrase now and then... oh my...

Robert Mouland
www.wireharp.com