WHAT IS A CELTIC HARP?
The Celtic harp also goes by the names folk harp, lever harp and Irish harp. The last is a bit of a misnomer; technically, an Irish harp would be a harp made in Ireland. Just as Celtic music often brings the bonny green isles to mind, so too does the Celtic harp. However, Celtic culture and music is actually much more widespread. The term “Celtic” is a very broad term that refers to a large number of cultures, spanning hundreds (if not thousands) of years, that essentially have only one thing in common: language. The Celts were anyone who spoke one of the Celtic languages. The Celtic languages could be seen as being in “families”, with Breton, Cornish and Welsh being in one language family, and Scot, Manx and Irish being in another. Both Irish and Scot are often referred to as “Gaelic”, with Irish usually being specified as “Irish Gaelic”. Some Irish people prefer their language to be referred to as simply “Irish”, since “Gaelic” is often more strongly associated with the Scottish cult
