02/09/2026
🎶 Patrick Byrne - The Last of the Irish Harpers
Patrick Byrne (c. 1794 - 1863), often referred to in Irish sources as Pádraig Dall Ó Beirn, was one of the final masters of the Irish wire-strung harp, carrying a musical tradition shaped long before his lifetime.
Blinded at a young age, he trained with the Irish Harp Society in Belfast, learning techniques passed down from the old harpers at a time when the tradition was already fading. Byrne later performed across Ireland and Britain, preserving a repertoire rooted in the pre-Famine world.
Between 1837 and 1845, he performed for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, serving as Irish harper to the royal household. In 1845, he became the first traditional Irish musician ever photographed, captured in Edinburgh by Hill & Adamson.
By the 1850s he was living in Monaghan, playing for the Shirley family. In 1855, the people of Carrickmacross honoured him with a purse of gold, gathered as a public mark of respect. He died in 1863 and is buried there, remembered as a direct link to Ireland’s ancient wire-strung harp tradition.
📸 Irish Roots
