Hi, Rich--
   Re. your lament about finding difficulty with hand movement across the skin of your bodhran because of the limited gap under the cross-dowels; I use an unorthodox but very effective method of nuance variation. I hold the drum by gripping the dowels with my thumb and index finger, and applying pressure at whatever various levels is necessary on the skin. The tones available are without limit [between the upper and lower limits of course], and the fact that this method gives freedom to move the drum in any direction while playing gives even greater freedom to vary nuances. In fact it is perfectly possible to continue playing the drum while turning somersults [wish I could turn somersaults!!]
   Just a wee tale from the past---the late great Iain Macintosh was on stage at Irvine, Ayrshire folk club as I walked in carrying the drum case. He paused briefly in his intro to whatever he was about to perform to say "Boab, take that thing oot o' its case an' Ah'll hae ye wearin' like a horse-collar!!"