Catriona Cannon

What is your name / where are you from?
Catriona Cannon from Galway.

How did you start playing the harp?
I was fortunate to grow up in a harping household. My mother, Kathleen Loughnane, is a wonderful harper. However, while she did put other instruments my way, she never suggested I learned the harp. It was only when I was about 11 and started trying to figure out the Spiderman theme tune on the harp that I decided to ask mum to give me a lesson. She had been secretly hoping I might ask some day but wanted the impetus to come from me. I’m so very glad I asked!

What does the harp mean to you?
So much, it’s a great pal. It roots me and keeps me connected to home and who I am. Its opened up so many unexpected worlds to me and gives me a way of communicating that I cannot express in words.

What do you like most about Lá na Cruite | Harp Day?
What a brilliant day it is! Lá na cruite celebrates all of harping, from the making to the researching to the many approaches to playing on different styles of harp. It’s inclusive and open, all are welcome to participate and I love the variety in the contributions. The harp has given Ireland so much, it was so long overdue it’s very own day of celebration!