About Eala Harps

All of the harps made by Tomás MacUileagóid have his own logo inlaid into the face of the fore pillar. The design is of a swan, in Gaelic, Eala. It also echoes the musical treble clef. It is cut from ancient bog oak harvested from a bog in Galway. This particular piece has been carbon dated to be 6500 years old. This correlates with the Jomon period in Japanese history.

Design

The current design uses a round shell soundbox, with a rotary cut cherry veneer over the structure. This is made in a vacuum press and offers enormous strength, while being very light.

The soundboard is made from Alpine spruce sourced from forests near Bergen in Switzerland. This tonewood grows 1000m above sea level and is harvested in accordance with the phases of the moon. It is known as ‘moon spruce’ and is part of a centuries old tradition in European instrument making.

For the harmonic curve and forepillar, Tomás uses native cherry or walnut. It is structurally very stable and has pleasing visual qualities.

Like most makers of lever harps in Ireland, Tomás uses Camac semi-tone levers on his harps. They are precisely engineered and allow a high degree of accuracy in tuning.

The string selection is a combination of Carbon Fibre strings, Nylon core bass strings, and Steel core base strings.