THE EGAN IRISH HARPS: Tradition, patrons and players
Four Courts Press, 2019
Nominated for the Bessaraboff Prize by the American Musical Instruments Society
“A fascinating study of the Egan harps, the book comes with an exquisite 16-page colour inset of 44 plates featuring a range of the instruments alluringly displayed in museums.”
“It will be the standard reference work, going forward, on the work of the very talented, nineteenth-century Dublin harp-builder, John Egan, who – amongst much else – single-handedly invented the modern Irish harp…She doesn’t just set out the historical, cultural and musical context but – she painstakingly recreates Egan’s world for the reader.”
“This is a most welcome addition to the literature on music in Ireland in general and harp scholarship in particular.”
“THE EGAN IRISH HARPS is more than just a study of one harp maker and his instruments; it is a highly readable history of music in Ireland in the early 19th century... In such an impressive and useful book, one can find little to criticize…Indeed, many organologists today struggle to enlarge the scope of their field of study to encompass musical, cultural, historical and social aspects, which in fact is precisely what Hurrell has accomplished. ”
“Hurrell has done a wonderful job of documenting this history, generously illustrated and lucidly written in great detail. It provides not just an exhaustive historical account of one kind of instrument, but supplies a missing section of the development of music in Ireland up to the present day.”
“This is amongst the best books published on harp history in last 40 years. It’s yet to make it onto my bookshelves because it’s always on the coffee table or in my hands.”
from the author…
I first encountered a green Irish harp by John Egan in 2002. The brass plate was inscribed: J. Egan / Harp Maker by Authority of the Royal Warrant to His Most Gracious Majesty George IVth & the Royal Family. I was intrigued and wanted to know more, but very little information was published on the harp maker. I began a decade-long quest examining over sixty Egan harps in collections in the US, UK and Ireland. Along the way, I uncovered a world of Regency harp playing in Ireland’s great houses and I discovered an extraordinary Irish innovator, John Egan - patriot, king’s harp maker and inventor of the modern Irish harp. Publication is supported by the Burns Library, Boston College and O’Brien International.
Irish Traditional Music Archive (ITMA), Dublin, Ireland
BOOK TALKS AND EGAN LECTURES
‘Feminist Harpists & Domestic Rebellion in 19th Century Ireland.’ Zoom webinar, West Chester University, PA (2022).
‘The Origin of the Modern Irish Harp: Tradition meets Innovation.’ HHSI Festival, Medieval Mile Museum, Kilkenny, Ireland (2019).
‘Egan Irish Harps: Neoclassical Art Meets Traditional Music.’ Irish Georgian Society and Burns Library, Boston College (2019).
‘The Royal Winged-Maiden Harp’. Royal Academy of Music Museum, London, England (2019).
‘John Egan Harps: Myths and Legacy’, Irish Traditional Music Archive (ITMA), Dublin, Ireland (2019).
‘Key Changes: John Egan and the Revival of Ireland’s Harp.’ Nótaí/Notes: Music and Ireland Research Symposium. Boston College and NUI Galway, John J. Burns Library (2017).
‘A Patriotic Present’- John Egan harps for the Irish Harp Societies.’ Historical Harp Society of Ireland (HHSI), Kilkenny, Ireland (2015).
‘Golden Shamrocks and Winged Maidens: the Harps of John Egan.’ American Musical Instrument Society and CIMCIM International Meeting, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City (2012).
‘ “Sing, sweet harp, some song of ancient days”: John Egan and the Irish harp revival.’ First International Conference on Irish Music and Musicians, University of Durham, England (2010).
‘ “Sing, Sweet Harp, Some Song of Ancient Days”: Moore’s Harp, John Egan and the Irish Harp Revival.’ 200th Anniversary of Moore’s Irish Melodies, Royal Irish Academy, Dublin, Ireland (2008).
EGAN ARTICLES, BLOGS and RADIO
‘Origins of the Modern Irish Harp: John Egan and James McFall.’ Harp Perspectives, Cruit Éireann, Harp Ireland (May 2021).
‘A Tale of Two Irish Harps: John Egan fine-tunes the national instrument.’ John J. Burns Library blog post (Nov 2020).
‘Egan’s Irish Harps.’ 36:3 Irish Arts Review (Autumn 2019).
‘John Egan’s Ingenious Invention - “The Portable Irish Harp.”’ Folk Harp Journal 181 (Winter 2018).
‘The Egan Irish Harps.’ Harpesmag 25 (2019).
‘A Harp made for the Bard of Erin – John Egan’s Enterprising Product Placement.’ Royal Irish Academy blog post (Nov 2019).
‘Historical Resonance: Playing an Antique Harp.’ Conservation and Design International Journal (November 2017).
‘The Wild Irish Girl and her Harp.’ RTÉ Lyric Feature, Una Hunt, producer, with Claire Connolly, Julie Donovan and Nancy Hurrell (2014).
‘Egan, John,’ in Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments 2nd ed. (Oxford University Press, 2014).
SELECT ARTICLES ON HISTORICAL HARPS
‘Nineteenth-Century Welsh and Irish Harps: Authentic Revival or Invented Traditions?’ The American Harp Journal 29:3 (Summer 2024).
‘Review: The Erard Grecian Harp in Regency England by Panagiotis Poulopoulos.’ The Historical Harp Society Bulletin 34:2 (Winter 2024).
‘The 100th Anniversary of the MFA Musical Instrument Collection.’ The Historical Harp Society Bulletin 27:2 (Winter 2018).
‘The “Brian Boru” Harp.’ History Ireland 22:2 (March/April 2014).
‘The Celtic revival.’ Mary McMaster and Nancy Hurrell, in ‘HARP’, in Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments 2nd ed. (Oxford University Press, 2014).
‘A Drogheda Harp: Instrument and Icon.’ History Ireland 21:1 (Jan. / Feb. 2013).
‘A Harp Exhibit at the Museum of Making Music in Carlsbad, California.’ The American Harp Journal 24:1 (Summer 2013).
‘The Golden Age of Spanish Harp.’ The American Harp Journal 22:3 (Summer 2010).
‘Mythical Beasts to Floral Bouquets.’ Folk Harp Journal 139 (Summer 2008).
‘Thomas Moore’s Harp: the Royal Portable Harp of John Egan’ in Siobhán Fitzpatrick (ed.), My gentle harp: Moore’s Irish Melodies, 1808-2008 (Dublin: Royal Irish Academy, 2008).
‘Harps in the Royal College of Music Museum of Instruments.’ Bulletin of the Historical Harp Society (Dec 2007).
‘The Horniman Museum Harps.’ Bulletin of the Historical Harp Society (April 2006).
‘A Harp of Erin Rediscovered in the Horniman Museum.’ Folk Harp Journal (Winter 2005).
NEXT PROJECT: James McFall Harps
In the 1890s James McFall decided to abandon his monastery training and join the family’s Belfast cabinet-making business. It was the dawn of the Celtic Revival, and inspired by the Gaelic League movement, McFall designed a new Irish harp - the ‘Tara’ harp model - based on ancient Gaelic designs. Several notable figures in Irish history owned McFall harps: patriot Patrick Pearse, the archbishop Cardinal Logue, and later, actor Richard Hayward and TV personality Róisín Ní Shé, plus the pioneering Brigidine nuns who voyaged to distant Australia, taking McFall harps with them.