Denis O'Hampsey

Donnchadh Ó Hámsaigh, also known as Dennis Hempson, was reputedly born in 1695, and died on either 5th or 11th November 1807.

His parents were both from the area around Magilligan, in Co. Derry, Ireland, and he returned there on his retirement.

He was not the last of the old Irish harpers, but he has a special place amongst those intervied by Edward Bunting in the 1790s as he was a couple of generations older than any of the others and preserved a much older repertory. He was the only one to retain the older tradition of playing with long fingernails.