Against my better judgement, I'm reviving this just to tell a little story. When I first visited Ireland in 1963, John Doonan, the Tyneside Irish piccolo player had just let me listen to the Sean O Riada Gael Linn LPs & I was keen to know about this mysteious drum.

He said the skin had to buried for days before being treated & stretched on the frame??. Anyway, I hward no bodhrans ub Ireland, but st
ayed at a farm B & B in Blessington the night before the ferry home.

The friendly 'woman of the house' listened to my description & went upstairs & produced a very large and dusty tambourine (bodhran size)her dad had owned.
It's been said that Sean O Riada invented the bodhran, which may or not be true, but the cultural heritage of Irish Traditional music couldn't possibly be associated with a TAMBOURINE so maybe he just took the bells off?