From the middle of the twentieth century, three female harp players – Sheila Larchet Cuthbert (b.1923), Mercedes Garvey (1925–2013) and Gráinne Yeats (1925–2013) – were pivotal to the evolution of the harp in Ireland. As friends, teaching colleagues and lifelong members of Cairde na Cruite (Friends of the Harp), they transformed harp performance and pedagogy in Ireland for the remainder of the twentieth century. The harping landscape in Ireland at this time was dominated by female players. Larchet Cuthbert, Garvey and Yeats enjoyed distinguished harping careers at home and abroad; they did not relinquish their successful careers after marriage and/or having children, unlike many women of their generation. They shared a desire to improve standards in harp performance and teaching, and to expand the repertoire of the Irish (or lever) harp. Their commissioning and premiering of contemporary works for the Irish harp, in particular, were vital steps in the development of the instrument. Many of these works pushed the boundaries of the harp, enhancing its potential and capabilities. In this chapter, I evaluate the contribution of Larchet Cuthbert, Garvey and Yeats to the harp in Ireland and assess their influence and legacy through an examination of five main areas of activity: pedagogy, performance, commissioning, recording and publishing in the latter half of the twentieth century.

Harping Context

The main centres for harp learning in Ireland in the 1950s were Catholic convent schools, a tradition that can be traced back to the end of the nineteenth century. Recent research by Mary Louise O’Donnell into the attempts of the Gaelic League (Conradh na Gaeilge) to revive the harp in the late nineteenth century has afforded an important context to our understanding of Irish harp revivals from the 1950s onwards, in particular, the emergence of a predominantly female tradition and the crucial role played by various religious orders in the dissemination of Irish language and culture in this period. This symbolic alliance of the Catholic church with the Irish harp was a critical influence on the subsequent Irish harp revival in the mid-twentieth century, which was promoted in Catholic convent schools, most notably, Dominican College, Sion Hill, Dublin.