A harp worth 800 cups of tea

“It’s never too late to start a new hobby,” says Noel Anderson, the 89-year-old Irish harp maker and one of the few who make the intricate instrument – a national symbol of Ireland. A retired carpentry and metalwork teacher, Anderson only took up the craft seven years ago, making his first harp at the age of 82.

“It doesn’t matter what age I am, really. I just go out in the shed and work on it, sometimes for 10 minutes, sometimes for 10 hours,” Anderson told AFP at his home in Strabane, 120km northwest of Belfast.

“I’ll keep doing it as long as I can,” said the still-bright, white-haired Anderson, who turns 90 this month. “I’ve always made things — furniture, bowls, birdhouses, this and that — but making harps was special, one of the best experiences in life,” said the bright-eyed craftsman.

For centuries, the stringed harp has been a symbol of Ireland, appearing on its coat of arms, government seals and coins in the modern Republic. Today, however, its role is more as a cultural icon than as a widely played instrument, with the violin, flute and pipes more central to the traditional music scene.

Anderson mostly gives his harps to friends and family as wedding or other gifts. “I don’t make them to sell. I make them because I love making them. If you charge what a craftsman should charge for a hand-made harp, it’s going to be extremely expensive,” he said.

Anderson’s latest passion began when a friend suggested he build a harp for a favor, prompting him to turn his garage and shed into a workshop. Now, after finishing 18 harps, he is working on his most ambitious project yet: a copy of a 19th-century design by the leading Irish harp maker John Egan.

800 cups of tea

Anderson measures the time it takes to finish a harp, from the first cut of wood to the final string, not in hours, but in cups of tea consumed. “To make a big harp, I have to drink at least 800 cups. Pig harps are different. But still a lot of tea—five to six hundred brews anyway.”

For Anderson, the material is the most important element of the process. “Choosing what it’s going to be made of, getting your first piece of wood, looking at it and saying, oh yeah, that’s going to be right. That’s one of the most enjoyable parts,” he smiled.

Most of the raw material Anderson uses is “glorious” locally sourced hardwood and strings, although he occasionally buys spruce from Switzerland grown specifically for musical instruments. “It’s just a matter of getting the grain of the wood as regular and fine as possible. And the ability of spruce to transmit sound is quite unique,” he said.

Although he says his musical taste is eclectic, he likes to listen to an “occasional relaxing” harp CD while doing a crossword puzzle. “Harp music is beautiful in itself, whether it’s Irish, South American, or whatever,” he said. “I’m not a musician; in fact, I can’t play a note of anything,” he laughed.

That hasn’t stopped him from gaining a growing reputation for quality craftsmanship, of which Anderson says there are only a handful of makers still around. The high cost and lack of formal courses at trade schools means that the craft has almost disappeared. “I’d love to know if there’s anyone else, we’d share our skills and stuff. It’d be great if that happened,” he said.