Article

Cruitireacht agus Craoltóireacht: The Radio Broadcasts of Mary O’Hara

Rachel Duffy

Published in: Ethnomusicology Ireland 10 (2025)

Pages: 38-57 | Published Online: 30 June 2025

https://doi.org/10.64208/SRMA5130

Abstract

This article investigates the career of Irish harpist and singer Mary O’Hara (b.1935), a performer who established a significant international profile in the mid- and late twentieth century. Examination of O’Hara’s radio broadcasts over a period of forty years provides insights into her approach to performance and into the social and cultural contexts in which she operated, in particular the manner in which she navigated the changing performance landscape of the later twentieth century. The impact of broadcasting (craoltóireacht) is also explored, both in terms of O’Hara’s own career trajectory and wider Irish musical life, most notably the growing popularity of the harp and harping (cruitireacht) in Ireland during this period. Reference is made to recordings housed within the RTÉ Archives Acetate Disc Collection, the Irish Traditional Music Archive and the Mary O’Hara Papers at John J. Burns Library in Boston College.

Keywords: harp, Irish song, radio, broadcasting, revival

Author: Rachel Duffy | ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0265-1862

Rachel Duffy is a harper from Bray, Co. Wicklow. She enjoys a varied career as a performer, teacher, festival director and researcher. Her current research focuses on the twentieth-century transformation of harping in Ireland which is the subject of her doctoral studies at Technological University Dublin.

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