A unique, newly-researched, full history of the tambourine and bodhrán in Ireland.
The bodhrán drum has become a symbol of Ireland, as well known by now as the classic harp. Remarkably, it became visible only in the mid-1900s, but rapidly achieved a tremendous popularity.

It first entered modern-day Irish consciousness in 1959 with John B. Keane's use of a tambourine in his play Sive at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin. From 1960 onwards, it gained tremendous visibility in the traditional music revival through Seán Ó Riada's Radio Éireann ensemble Ceoltóirí Chualann, then by the Chieftains, and, later, by the Bothy Band, Planxty, Christy Moore and De Dannan. By the end of the century, tens of thousands of bodhráns had been made and dispersed worldwide, and the instrument was a staple in traditional music promoted by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann. Today the drum holds a remarkable symbolic presence not only in Irish music, but also in tourism and in sport, to the extent that it rivals the harp as a national emblem.