This country is fantastic, except that we are always cold and wet but I just don't care. Today I met Siobhan Armstrong. She is the head of the Irish Harp Society and is pretty much single handedly trying to revive the lost art of Irish Harp. She has a replica of the Trinity Harp which is just spectacular. The harp has brass strings for the middle and top of the harp. The bass wires are strung with 18 karat gold! The sound is like bells, it has a ton of beautiful resonance without using a lot of pressure. If I had even attempted to use my own technique I could have broken the strings. I did play it but very very gently. She also had a student model, which is the same instrument without the carvings. The wood is just plain. The harps are made by a man in Minnesota and she and him have also started developing student harps based on other ancient harps such as the Trinity Harp. It was just super cool. She also had a baroque Italian triple strung harp. It was the most mind boggling thing I have ever attempted to play. People have told/asked me "how do you see the strings? Don't they blend together?" On this harp...they did. It actually hurt my head trying to see what my right hand was doing. It has two diatonic rows with the chromatic row in the middle. It was super cool but difficult. The strings also had no tension and you played it with your fingers up and even used your pinky!
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| My attempt to give you the view of the triple strung harp |
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| Siobhan and Me with the Baroque Italian Triple strung harp |
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| Her Trinity Harp and a student model of the Downhill Harp |
We then went to the Rock of Cashel (Cash-El). It was a dilapidated old monastery. It had a fallen majesty that only comes with ancient things. There was a really cool museum around it as well which gave us a really good overview of Irish history. There were also a ton of birds at this monastery! There were holes in the wall and the birds just used them as their house. It was filled with jackdaws. They are related to the crow and very chatty. Apparently there is also a raven that lives at the monastery, possibly two. However, he only comes around toward evening but apparently the moment he shows up the jackdaws stop talking and hide in their homes. My mom said "oh, so the queen bee?" The guide laughed and agreed with her.
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| Rock of Cashel |
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| The jackdaws of Rock of Cashel |
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| Cahir Castle |
We then went to Cahir (care) Castle. Coolest castle we have been in so far!!!!! After a brief 30 minute tour you are pretty much allowed to do what ever you want! Obviously, they expect you to respect the building but you wander around unattended and there isn't much you can't do. We climbed the ramparts and the tower. The stairs were narrow spiral stairs, some with no railing. To get the ramparts you climbed an unprotected stairs. So no hand rail to keep you from falling. It was so authentic! The doors were wood and it was just so fantastic! Cahir Castle also has one of three working portcullis. It drops in just 4 seconds and has been used in the Tudor series and Brave Heart! It was really cool looking. The portcullis actually leads you to a courtyard called the "trap". This is because it is a small courtyard about 20x20. So if you were attempting to take the castle you would go through the portcullis thinking that the enemy had not had enough time to lower it. The moment you entered you would realize your mistake. They would drop the portcullis and you would be surrounded by archers on 3 sides. The 4 side would be dropping rocks from the top of the castle so if you weren't shot you would be squished. It was so cool! I hope you guys are enjoying my pictures and stories! Until tomorrow.
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