Tag: Drogheda

Eugene McEntegart

There was apparently a player of the traditional wire-strung Irish harp in Drogheda in the 1840s named Mr. McEntegart. I have only two references so far to Mr McEntegart playing the harp, and neither is entirely unambiguous or satisfactory. I have also found a number of other references to Mr. McEntegart from Drogheda performing concerts on piano, guitar, and singing. I suspect these may all be the same person. This post is to line up all of these references, and to try and work out what is going on, and to make some speculative suggestions about his life and music.

Continue reading Eugene McEntegart

Another traditional Irish harper in the 20th century

In my timeline of traditional Irish harpers through the Long 19th Century, I have listed three people who were still alive after 1900. Peter Dowdall in Drogheda died in 1902; Paul Smith in Dublin died in 1904, and George Jackson in Belfast died in 1909. All three of these had learned to play the traditional wire-strung Irish harp from teachers who themselves had learned in the inherited tradition with lineages going back to the 18th century and beyond.

This post is to discuss a very brief mention of an un-named harper in 1906.

Continue reading Another traditional Irish harper in the 20th century