Sláinte! Music, Music, Music
Left: Ireland's most famous tin-whistler, Paddy Moloney of The Chieftains, circa 1970s. Right: Ancient harp, believed to be Brian Boru's, is housed in Trinity College, Dublin.
Edythe Preet writes that music defines Ireland’s identity.
For every country there is an iconic image that immediately brings the nation to mind. The United States has the Statue of Liberty. Dragons evoke thoughts of China. The Fleur de Lis is quintessentially French. While national symbols range the gamut from mythical beasts, crowns, and statues to insignias, monuments, buildings and more, music is conspicuously absent. Except in one case.