Irish Bones
Irish bones add a cheerful and dramatic beat to any music session. Handmade in Ireland! Irish bones made by hand from guaranteed Irish materials
05/12/2023
Just got a little Christmas gift from someone I met during the year - I love it 😀
(and now it’s official so I don’t have to compete in Abbeyfeale any more…😀😀😀)
30/11/2023
Today, we celebrate the birthday of a true legend, a man who has touched our hearts and souls with his music for decades. Happy 90th to the one and only Willie Nelson!
He's a symbol of resilience, of standing up for what you believe in, and of never giving up on your dreams. He's a champion of farmers and the working class, using his platform to raise awareness and support for their struggles
So I’m in Dublin in my real job to deliver a project management programme called the 10 Steps. This is the route to my hotel room. I couldn’t resist 😀
16/11/2023
I bought a beautiful bowlback mandolin 4 years ago as a prop for photos. The top had split away from the bowl so it was beautiful but unplayable ( the opposite to some of the bones I make 😀). I sowed it to the legendary Tom Cussen and he sent it to the equally legendary Thomas Dotzauer in Germany where it is being brought back to life.
Can’t wait!
05/11/2023
Today is my Dad’s 39th anniversary.
I remember the second I heard of his passing.
I spent a part of the day today on a home project, hearing his words -
“Let the saw do the work”
“Keep your tools sharpened”
“Your hand will follow your eye”
“Did I not tell you to keep your tools sharpened?”
Thank you Ray ❤️ and yes, now I admit you were right about everything.
( my 21st in 1980)
29/10/2023
Bones made in 2017 to celebrate Cork’s annual Jazz Festival that runs over Halloween each year 🎃💀
24/10/2023
Some bones from 2014! Found pic while I was trying to free up space on my phone 😀☘️🦴
21/10/2023
I've received 100 reactions to my posts in the past 30 days. Thanks for your support. 🙏🤗🎉
20/10/2023
Bones I was going to keep for myself sent off to Rhode Island yesterday 😀
13/10/2023
Bones off to Pennsylvania and North Carolina today ☘️
07/10/2023
I love making bones. Each pair is different.
07/10/2023
Trying to get a good representation of a customer’s loved bike on to a bone 😀
25/09/2023
In June 2018 on our way back from Sky and Jessie’s BonesFest we passed through Mystic, CT and I saw these bones in a shop there. Anyone know anything about them? I didn’t buy them…wish I had.
17/09/2023
In 2012 I caught the first wild trout in a lake created by my brother-in-law at the base of the Blackstairs mountains. Visiting this weekend he show me the bones I made at the time to remember the feat 😀 - and he had a photo of The Fish!
Then he gave me this bone that he found around the farm - lovely shape, nicely dried out - so now to find a companion for it 😀☘️
11/09/2023
Made a pair of bones over the weekend from ribs I had given up in a few years ago. Never give up…☘️
11/09/2023
As I sometimes do, over the weekend I retrieved some ribs from my scrapheap (could I call it a boneyard ?😀). A few years ago I thought they were too thick at one end and too thin at the other to be easy to play. But I gave them another chance. And I was right - they’re not that easy to play. But when you coax them a bit and change your approach they sound great. I’ll never learn 🙂
Saw the fantastic Robert Jackson of A Different Thread busking in Cork yesterday and joined him on bones for a tune 😀
31/08/2023
What better way to honour your loved dog ❤️
28/08/2023
Whew, just recovered from Covid so catching up on bones making for a while today ☘️😀
26/08/2023
Bríd’s been busy making bags!
23/08/2023
I bring my 5 favourite pairs of bones to sessions. I know, 5 :-)
Usually I have to root in the bodhrán case to find them, and then in my pockets as I have a habit of shoving them in there, and on other tables and even in other players cases, and then have a search at the end of the session to make sure I haven’t misplaced any - I just spend too much time “foostering around” as my mother used to say! So I said to my lovely wife Bríd the other day “Is there any chance I could have a bag that would take 5 pairs of bones, and I could have it on a table just to keep them all together during a session?” And look what she did!
22/08/2023
After a few days intense playing at Mullingar Fleadh 2023 I had to replace the string on my bones. And I have a shower token left over 😀
Guess that shows was here my priorities lay 😃🎶
19/08/2023
I found three lovely Shooting Star bones a few years ago in the case of a second hand bodhrán I picked up. (I was working on the design for a foldable bodhrán that could easily be carried on ‘planes. The pandemic ended that project!)
One bone must have got lost somewhere. The Shooting Star bones have been made by Mardeen Gordon and Randy Gordon since 1983 and are a great favourite because they are so easy to play.
I had a single rough blank of Elm for the Glounthaune Elm I make, so I made a partner for the lone Shooting Star. Hope Mardeen and Randy don’t mind the liberty I took with their distinctive Shooting Star logo by making a little shooting shamrock ☘️
These bones are going back to California next week as a gift to a man who is taking up bones at the tender age of 75 😀
18/08/2023
Buffalo bones completed awaiting the word to post them 😀
13/08/2023
Another pair of buffalo bones nearly done. These are big but beautiful 😀
The brothers and myself playing in the street in Mullingar at Fleadh 2023. We asked a passer-by to video us beside the Joe Dolan statue - but Joe must have been gone for a pint …
Mullingar Fleadh 2023
02/08/2023
Bones on the way to Germany this afternoon 🍀
28/07/2023
Rest in peace at last Sinéad 💔☘️
25/07/2023
So there _is_ an old goat at the bridge in Killorglin…
24/07/2023
Bones nearly ready for a musician in Germany. They all turn out different, these ones have a more natural look, are relatively large with a lovely sound. Also trying to master the Celtic knot ☘️
21/07/2023
Goat bones are rare. It’s rarer still to make them from a goat you knew and loved. Remembering Rug. March 7 2017 to January 1 2021.
21/07/2023
Just to show you how raw the bones start off. They may be beautiful in the end.
18/07/2023
What else would you be doing on a hot day in Ireland only making bones for people in France, Germany and Australia 🍀🍀🍀
My Dad Ray would have been 107 today. He left us when he was only 68, in 1984. Here is my flawed but heartfelt tribute to the man who made me what I am.
Our Story
I made my first pair of bones (pictured) in 1979 in Galway! I was told about bones by Joe Stevens, brother of Padraig Stevens, a founder member of the Saw Doctors, and I have been making and playing them since.
I set up a website in 2011 and almost 200 pairs of Irish Bones are now bringing music, rhythm and “craic” to people in over 20 countries worldwide!
Customers have written me poems, given me gifts, recorded songs and tunes for me, and some of them have even shed tears of joy when they got their Irish Bones. I would love to send more bones to more people and places around the world so spread the word!
I also make jig dolls, including one based on my Dad called Reeling Ray. I created a female jig doll, Jigging Jill, in 2013 based on a customer order.
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