Turlough Carolan was a blind itinerant Irish harper, composer and singer whose great fame is due to his gift for melodic composition.
He was the last great Irish harper-composer and is considered by many to be Ireland's national composer.
Carolan composed both songs and instrumental harp music. All his songs were composed in Irish, bar one in English. Most were dedicated to and about specific individuals.
Some of his compositions are performed by many popular Irish musicians, such as Planxty, The Chieftains, and The Dubliners.