Harrington Harps, Cork Videos

Get some Colombian ceol into your soul on a dreary wet April evening. Diego Laverde Rojas popped round to the stand at the Edinburgh International Harp Festival and knocked some sparks out of the harps. Thanks to Karen Marshalsay for the video!

Alison Kinnaird giving us all a treat at the Edinburgh International Harp Festival

A cute little visitor popped out today at the Edinburgh International Harp Festival for a little dance. Drawn out by the playing of Karen Marshalsay 😄

My team of Quality Control Assessors here at Harrington Harps HQ inspecting the latest harps off the production line

I was happy out filing the edges of a brass cheek band for an early Irish harp today when it occurred to me it's been 30 years since Mr. Farrell l, my metalworking teacher in Bishopstown Community School, showed me how to file and draw file metal edges down to a line. I thought it was a pretty tedious exercise back then, but when you see the applications of these techniques in real life it brings it all home. It's mad some of the stuff you think you learn in school that you think you'll never use. I also use a surprising amount of every day trigonometry to figure out angles for making cuts - so my maths teacher would be proud as well!

No sign of the sun this morning so the workshop is looking a bit black and white! I decided to share one minute of the ten that it took me to trim the edges of this soundbox. You get such lovely shavings with Walnut but only if you go with the grain, which is why I'm working "backwards" here with the block plane.

Eimear McDonagh was kind enough to demonstrate the new harp design with this gorgeous piece by Catriona McKay Swan LK 243. This harp is so fresh that it doesn't even have its levers yet! It's always so lovely to hear someone of Eimear's talent putting one of my harps through its paces. Many thanks to Damhnait Sweeney for the video!

Shaping the harp base. Walnut planes so nicely 🌟

https://harringtonharps.ie/get-a-quote-nueva I'm now offering a free two week trial period for new commissions. Once the harp is completed you can have two weeks to try it out. If you decide to purchase then your deposit goes towards the final amount, if not you can get your deposit refunded. I take great pride in my work and I stand behind my harps. The refundable deposit is €1500, and the final price of a 34 string harp is €7000. Once the deposit is paid it secures your place in the waiting list, which is currently 15 months long. To get the process started you can contact me through Facebook Messenger, email [email protected], contact me through the website, or give me a call.

One of the final tasks on my harps is shaping the neck and shoulder. There are a lot of curves converging here and I like to spend the time to get their transitions just right.

You have to love ebony. Its like planing a pebble but the results make it worth it.

Final polish before stringing up. This harp will be taking a long journey to it's new owner in Japan in a few weeks. I love to finish my harps with shellac. It's a completely natural finish and I can apply it and polish it entirely at the bench. No hazardous chemicals involved so no need for a spray booth or a respirator. The only equipment needed is a natural bristle brush will should last for decades and lots of elbow grease.