One of the most distinctive features of wire-strung Irish harps is the long sustain of the metal strings. Traditionally, Irish harpers learned various finger movements by name, for placing, playing and damping. Edward Bunting collected information about these, which he compiled and published as a table in his 1840 collection. By his own admission, Bunting's interpretation of this information may not have been entirely without error, but it certainly illustrates the intricacy of the “peculiar” method of playing of the Irish harpers.

Based on Bunting's table, and along with my suggested corrections where I think Bunting may have misunderstood, I have reconstructed a coherent system of fingering techniques for the wire-strung Irish harp. Last year at Scoil na gCláirseach I presented an overview workshop of all the named elements. This year, my workshop will be more specific; we will focus on just some of the techniques, and expand our understanding of them by exploring how they can be used as building blocks, and combined in various ways.