ABSTRACT
Although the Trinity College Harp has been widely known as the “Brian Boru Harp”, it is generally agreed that any connection between this instrument and the High King of Ireland who died in 1014 was the invention of 19th century myth-makers. The first known Irish owners of this harp were a branch of the O’Neill family during the late 16th or early 17th century. Their coat-of-arms was engraved on a small silver badge which was fixed at that time to the front part of the carved reptile’s head on the forepillar.
