Lectures and Talks

I am often asked to give talks or lectures. Most often I am asked to give a general talk on the history of the harp, or on the old harp traditions. I always like to make a talk relevant to the venue or event, to connect to local people or places.

Other times I do more focussed talks on a particular subject or theme. In 2018 I gave a talk for the President and his guests at Áras an Uachtaráin, on the Irish harp symbol. In 2017 I was at Hospitalfield House, Arbroath, and I did a lecture about the Erard Grecian pedal harp and its place in Scottish music. I was invited to the Pìobaireachd Society conference in Dunkeld in 2016, and spoke about the relationship between ceòl mór and the clàrsach.

Every year at Scoil na gCláirseach in Kilkenny, I have given one or two talks on specialist areas of interest within historical harp studies. For a number of years until I moved away, I gave a lecture once a term at the University of St Andrews, as part of the undergraduate course on Scottish Music.