The wire-strung Irish harp is the traditional harp of Ireland. From a high point in the mid-19th century, its tradition declined until its suppression in the early 1900s. The last of the old tradition-bearers died in 1909.
The wire-strung Irish harp was hidden or neglected for most of the 20th century, although many people always recognised that the wire-strung harp was “the traditional Irish harp”. Now in the 21st century the wire-strung Irish harp is once again a living tradition, taking its rightful place as a defining part of the national music of Ireland.
There are other kinds of harp in Ireland of course. The classical pedal harp belongs in orchestras; its small relative the lever harp was introduced by classical pedal harp teachers in the 1890s and early 1900s, pushing aside the inherited tradition of wire-strung harp playing, and taking over the cultural space that the wire-strung Irish harp had held for centuries.
The inherited tradition had been so well hidden, that a huge amount of detective work was needed to re-connect the scattered fragments of tradition. From the 1960s and 1970s, pioneering individuals made or got hold of wire-strung harps, and started experimenting with stringing, damping, and handling the resonance and harmonics of the instrument. After many decades of trial and error, the entire system is now coming together: we now have the designs of traditional instruments, and we have the systems of fingering, tuning, and the method of playing.