This presentation raises questions about the Irish musical instruments in Gerald of Wales’ Topographia Hibernica (Topography of Ireland). Gerald’s text offers rare insight into musical practice and the use of instruments in late twelfth-century Ireland. Gerald claims that the Irish delight in only two instruments, the “cithara” and the “tympanum.” Several early manuscripts of this text contain marginal illustrations. At least two of these are believed to have been produced under Gerald's supervision. It is worth noting that, on the pages containing this reference to the “cithara”, the two manuscripts show different stringed instruments. This complicates the interpretation of Gerald’s text. Comparing these manuscripts with contemporaneous images of musical instruments allows us to ask whether Gerald was a reliable reporter and whether modern scholars might have misinterpreted what he meant by “cithara”.