Patrick Byrne (c. 1794-1863)

A number of people have published info about Patrick Byrne.

One of the first papers on him was Henry George Farmer, ‘Some Notes on the Irish Harp’, Music and Letters, vol. XXIV, April 1943

Keith Sanger has had access to Shirley Family papers, and other archives, and has found a number of interesting references to Byrne. He has published some of them:
‘Portraits of an Irish harper’, Folk Harp Journal no. 45, June 1984, p.19 & cover illustration
‘Patrick O’Byrne and John Bell’, Folk Harp Journal No. 53, June 1986, p. 35-37, includes a copy of Byrne’s concert poster and citations from John Bell’s ms.
‘Patrick Byrne (1794 - 1863)’, Website of the Wire Branch of the Clarsach Society, 2002
Updated and expanded at wirestrungharp.com, 2006

Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin includes some very interesting material on Byrne in A Hidden Ulster, Four Courts Press, 2003, p. 353-357, including excerpts of letters. She has updated this info for her website project, Oriel Arts.

Ruth-Ann M. Harris & Sally K. Sommers Smith have written an interesting article with citations from Patrick's brother's letter: ‘The eagle and the harp: the enterprising Byrne brothers of County Monaghan’, Irish Studies Review, vol 18, no. 2, May 2010

The Irish radio station LMFM broadcast a radio documentary at 1pm on April 25th 2011, on the Irish harper Patrick Byrne. As well as interviews with local historians and early harp experts (and me!), the programme featured music and song from Byrne’s repertory, speciallty recorded by Ann Heymann.

More to come...