Musically the bodhran evolved from the tambourine, which can be heard on some Irish music recordings dating back to the 1920s, and from the homemade drum used by mummers in the south west of Ireland. Sean O Riada was one of the first to stick his neck out, brazenly describing the bodhran as our native drum, adding his view that its history goes back to pre-Christian times. Others, while not denying that it could have had an ancient role, take the view that its introduction as a musical instrument is a more recent phenomenon.

There are many theories:

• That the drum originated in Africa and came to Ireland by way of Spain.
• That it originated in Central Asia and was brought to Ireland by Celtic migrants.
• That it originated in rural Ireland and evolved from a work implement to its present musical status.
• That it was devised by cunning Kerrymen to push up the price of goatskin.

What we do know for sure is that drums are generally circular and, until recent times, tended to be covered with animal skin. And that their emergence in various cultures at different times need not be related events.

Given our history, the drum would have had a role in Irish warfare. But given the destructible nature of wood and animal skin, it is not surprising that any have survived from early Gaelic times. We also know that a couple of centuries ago, Gaelic Chieftains had their own march tunes. The bodhran bears an uncanny resemblance to the skin tray used for centuries on farms in Celtic countries for separating chaff from grain. It also featured in rural mummers’ plays and harvest festivities, adding credence to the theory about its agricultural background.

Sean D Halpenny in his booklet “Secrets of the Bodhran” says that the instrument arrived into the popular area of music in the late 1950s. He adds: “Its close cousin the tambourine was a lot more popular, but its use has nearly died out. The author has been using the tambourine for 20 years and remembers hearing old recordings of percussionists from the west of Ireland using the instrument and some years ago Seamus Tansey, the Sligo flute player, doubled on the tambourine on an LP recording.” On one recording from 1927, John Reynolds from Co Leitrim can be heard playing the tambourine as he accompanies flute player Tom Morrison. The jingles may have been suppressed by taping, as it sounds uncannily like a bodhran.

In the mid-20th century spoons also provided percussion for Irish dance music while the snare and pedal drums were popular with the ceili bands.

The bodhran found its place in the traditional music of recent times largely through the work of Sean O Riada and Ceoltóirí Cualann, in which the late Peadar Mercier played the instrument. One of Mercier’s colleagues in Ceoltóirí Cualann was Eamon de Builtéar. They often played together at sessions in the youth hostel in which Mercier worked in north Wicklow.

Eamon de Builtéar says that the bodhran was played in some parts of Kerry and that following its use in Sive, one of John B Keane’s earliest plays to be staged in Dublin’s Abbey Theatre, others gradually took up the instrument. Keane had heard it played by mummers from the Listowel hinterland. Photos taken by Kevin Danaher in west Limerick in 1946 show young mummers holding an instrument identical to the modern bodhran in one hand and a stick in the other.

Ceoltóirí Cualann, under the guidance of Sean O Riada, gained quite a reputation in Ireland before evolving onto the world stage as The Chieftains, with Peadar Mercier playing the bodhran. But it was to Davy Fallon, an elderly bodhran player and farmer from Castletown Geoghan in CO Westmeath, that Paddy Moloney turned to for the first Chieftains album. Fallon was well into his seventies by then. He used an old-style goatskin bodhran with tambourine jingles around it and Paddy had to persuade him to tape up the jingles so only the drum could be heard. Mercier took over Fallon’s role as The Chieftains gained popularity and started to tour.

Today Mercier’s place is filled by Kevin Conneff. In a roundabout way, Conneff was to be an important link in the emergence of the bodhran among the popular folk/traditional groups. He played the instrument on the landmark Prosperous album featuring Christy Moore and released in 1972. Conneff’s playing on The Hackler from Grouse Hall made a lasting impression.

Prosperous led to the formation of Planxty and with Christy Moore taking over as bodhran player, the instrument’s role in popular folk/tradition was assured. In the Seventies, groups such as De Danann (Johnny Ringo McDonagh), The Boys of the Lough (Robbie Morton) and Stockton’s Wing (Tommy Hayes) blended the bodhran into their performance as though it was as old as the music itself.

Technique continues to evolve as evident in the playing of Johnjo Kelly of the group Flook, often heard performing with Manchester flute player Mike McGoldrick. Kelly sets his bodhran skin looser than most, enabling him to produce tonal and pitch changes by sliding his left hand down inside the drum to add pressure on the skin, and then loosening it to go back to the original sound.