'Bodhrán playing was seasonal': The incredible history of the traditional Irish drum

Most people don't realise the bodhrán was relatively low-profile until broadcasts by Seán Ó Riada and the drum's inclusion in a John B Keane play led to a meteoric rise in popularity 

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.