1. From The Memoirs of Arthur O'Neill, in Donal O'Sullivan, "Carolan, the Life, Times and Music of an Irish Harper", Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 1958, vol. 2 p. 157-8
2. Colm O Baoill, Some Irish Harpers in Scotland, "Transactions of the gaelic Society of Inverness" vol. 47, 1970-72 p.158
3. Seán Donnelly, The Famousest Man in the World for the Irish Harp "Dublin Historical Record" vol LVII no. 1 Spring 2004 p.46
4. Edward Bunting, "The Ancient Music of Ireland". Hodges and Smith, Dublin, 1840, p, 73
5. Special Collections, Queens University Library, Belfast. See Sources - Bunting mss for more information.
6. Alasdair Codona's analysis is at clarsach.net; See also online facsimiles: p.58, p.158, and p.159.
7. It should be unnecessary to add that all the harpers at the 1792 Belfast harpers' meeting, whether using nails or tips of their fingers, were playing on Gaelic harps strung with brass wire strings. The modern neo-Celtic lever harp with gut strings and semitone mechanisms was not invented at that time, and when it was, in the early 19th century, it was used by aristocratic ladies not by the last of the old Gaelic harpers.
© Simon Chadwick 2005 - part of the history of the Gaelic harp, at earlygaelicharp.info