Irish Harping: Legacy and Living Traditions Symposium

Cruitireacht Éireann: Oidhreacht agus Traidisiúin Bheo

IN ASSOCIATION WITH CRUIT ÉIREANN AND THE UNIVERSITY OF GALWAY

THURSDAY 25TH SEPTEMBER, 2025, UNIVERSITY OF GALWAY

Keynote Speaker - Dr Ann Buckley (Trinity College Dublin)

This symposium is a collaboration between Harp Ireland, the International Council for Traditions of Music & Dance (ICTMD) Ireland and the School for English, Media & Creative Arts, University of Galway. Keynote speaker Professor Ann Buckley (Trinity College Dublin) will deliver the Annual Harp Ireland Lecture at the symposium, which is sponsored by ICTMD Ireland this year. This symposium is one of a series of events which mark the twentieth anniversary of ICTMD Ireland in 2025.

Registration is now open for the Symposium. See the Programme below.

The Arts in Action lunchtime concert with Cormac de Barra and the Annual Harp Ireland Lecture, delivered by Dr Ann Buckley (TCD), are both free to attend and open to the public.

Tickets

Symposium tickets are available via the ICTMD Ireland Eventbrite page:

https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/irish-harping-cruitireacht-eireann-symposium-tickets-1656832613949?aff=oddtdtcreator 

Tickets cost €25 plus booking fee. 

Tickets will soon be released for an evening reception and concert at Claregalway Castle the same day organised by Harp Ireland. A link for these tickets will be posted at at https://www.ictmd.ie/events once released.

Schedule 

8.45am-9.15am

Registration - Hardiman Building, Foyer

9.15am-9.30am

Welcome - Room G010

• Professor Tríona Ní Shíocháin - Head of School of English, Media & Creative Arts

• Dr Susan Motherway - Chair of ICTMD Ireland

• Aibhlín McCrann - Chair of Harp Ireland

9.30am-11am

Session 1

1A Harp Pedagogy & Community Building - Room G010

• Fiona Gryson (TU Dublin), The fifty-year legacy of The Irish Harp Book: A Tutor and Companion by Sheila Larchet Cuthbert

• Karen Loomis (The Historical Harp Society of Ireland), Building a harping community internationally through online education

• Janet Harbison (TU Dublin), Structuring an Oral Pedagogy for the Harp: Issues arising from the experience of the Belfast Harp Orchestra 

1B Harping Traditions: Historical and Contemporary Interpretations - Room G011

• Michael Shields (University of Galway), What do 12th-century Irish texts tell us about harps?

• Rachel Duffy (TU Dublin), Traditions and Transformations: Harping in Ireland 1960-2005

• Lauren O’Neill (Ulster University), Harping with words: Remembering and re-imagining harp music in response to the recitation of Gaelic bardic poetry

11am-11.30am

Coffee Break, Installation & Archival Exhibition

University of Galway Archives/ IMIRCE Exhibition curated by Catriona Cannon (University of Galway) and Brendán MacSuibhne (University of Galway)

Úna Monaghan (Queen’s University Belfast), Harp, Electronics and Improvisation: Three Collaborative Film Works.

11.30am-12.30pm

Session 2

2A Harping as Storytelling & Poetry - Room G010

• Emily Cullen (University of Limerick), From footnotes to poetic feet: when Irish harp research ‘vibrates in the memory’ to transpose into poetry

• Niamh O’Brien (Independent), Irish Harping as Storytelling 

12.30pm-13.00pm

Lunch

1pm-1.45pm

Arts in Action Lunchtime Concert

Cormac DeBarra - O’Donoghue Theatre

2pm-3.30pm

Session 3

Harp Collections & Sources - Room G010

• Eilís Lavelle (Independent), James Cody: An insight into notations from the nineteenth century

• Kathleen Loughnane (Independent), A selection for Harp from the MSS of Patrick O’Neill (1765-1832)

• Siobhán Armstrong (Royal College of Music, London; UCD; Historical Harp Society of Ireland), Turlough Carolan (1670–1738): A critical evaluation of sources for the music of Ireland’s iconic harp composer

3.30pm-4pm

Refreshment Break 

4pm-5pm

Annual Harp Ireland Lecture

Ann Buckley (TCD) - O’Donoghue Theatre

5pm-7.30pm

Dinner Break

7.30pm

Wine Reception

Hosted by Harp Ireland - Claregalway Castle

8pm-9.15pm

Evening Concert

Curated by Harp Ireland - Claregalway Castle

Conference Committee

Dr Ann-Marie Hanlon (University of Galway, Symposium Chair), Aibhlín McCrann (Harp Ireland), Dr Síle Denvir (DCU), Catriona Cannon (Harp Ireland, University of Galway), Professor Máirín Ní Dhonnchadha (University of Galway), Marianne Ní Chinnéide (University of Galway)

Programme Committee

Dr Ann-Marie Hanlon (University of Galway), Professor Tríona Ní Shíocháin (University of Galway), Dr Síle Denvir (DCU), Catriona Cannon (University of Galway), Dr Helen Lawlor (TU Dublin), Dr Úna Monaghan (Queen’s University Belfast)

2B Organology, Composition and Pedagogy - Room G011

• Clare McCague (Independent), Silent Witness: A Pedal Harp’s Journey from Forgotten Workshop to the Old Asylum

• Gráinne Meyer (Queen’s University Belfast), Demystifying the Harp: An Interactive Digital Tool for Composers and Harpists