'Bodhrán playing was seasonal': The incredible history of the traditional Irish drum
Dónal Lunny playing his bodhrán with the author Fintan Vallely in Rathmines. Picture: Nutan
There’s an old joke that goes, “What’s the best way to play a bodhrán? With a penknife.”
The slag is reputed to have come from the piper Séamus Ennis – infuriated by beginners buying a bodhrán at a fleadh cheoil stall and having the neck to muscle in on a trad session shortly afterwards – but is more likely to have originated from orchestral violinists’ jokes about drums and timpani. It has, however, stuck in the consciousness around Ireland.
