I have opted to put all the instruments used and in use both electric and acoustic and where possible with (regards to the accoustic instruments) date of creation, maker and place of origin.

CLÁIRSEACH - The Cláirseach is a brass strung Gaelic Harp and was the most respected of Irish (and to my knowledge Scottish) instruments up until the 1700 when it seems to have been largely usurped by the piano and European Classical Music. It died a death in the 1800's but was revived in the late 1900's. Traditionally it was carved from solid willow and may or may not have had a sheet of bog pine to close the soundbox. My Cláireseach was made by cláirseóir Paul Dooley in the Burren Region of North Clare sometime in the late 1990's or early 2000's from Ash (body) and Alder(soundbox). It has 24 Brass strings diatonically tuned to F major. I bought this wonderful instrument from Paul in May of 2007.

CRETIAN LYRE - I first heard this instrument on some Greek music recordings in and around 2002 and really liked it's tone so-much-so that when I visited Crete in 2005 I purchased one in Chania. I was told that the instrument was actually made in Reythemnon. My Lyra has a walnut back and a pine front with it's head carved in the shape of a bull. It is pear-shaped (not-unlike it's cousins from Trace and from Macedonia in Northern Greece) with three metal strings (tuned to G, D and A). It is sat on one's thigh and played like a small cello except for the fact that it is played by touching the fingernails to the side of the string as opposed to pressing the fingerpads directly on the strings. The bow used is quite short, so depending on the style of playing I either use it or a full sized violin bow (which works quite well for slow airs).
In the summer of 2007 a friend of my girlfriend was staying with us and presented me with her grandfather's Pontiac Lyra (also called a kemence). Unfortunately it is missing its bridge however once I get that sorted I'm sure it will make an appearence on an Uaigneas tune or two. This Lyra is more lozenge shaped and the strings are played in the opposite way to the Cretian Lyra (with the finger pads).
I became quite interested in the Lyra after I visited Crete but did not contemplate a possible connection with Gaelic Irish music until I spoke to a Cláirseach maker in Kenmare by the name of Peter Kilroy (who incidentally put me in contact with Paul Dooley -see Cláirseach) who when I described my lyra said it reminded him of a Welsh instrument called a Crwth. At first this meant nothing to me until I wrote down the name and then realised that it was very similar to the oft mentioned insrument of the Gael, the Cruit.

MANDOLIN - Just like the Lyres mentioned previously, I initally wanted to get a mandolin because I liked the sound that the four sets of double strings make. I finally got a semi-acoustic one at the end of 2002. Its metal strings are tuned to G, D, A and D and all I know about the instrument is that it was bought in Killarney, in a music shop that no longer exists, by my family as a christmas present. Ironically there is an old GAelic instrument (which it still has to be discovered as to exactly what it was) called an Ocht Teadach (or eight stringed) and was possibly a type of Lyre.

BODHRÁN - The Bodhrán is a traditional Irish Drum. It's origins are obscure but it is thought to be one of the oldest Irish instruments which may initially have been used for separating chaff from wheat but again that is pure speculation. It is basically a goatskin stretched over a circular frame with two timber cross-hairs for support. The sound is controlled by sliding the hand over the back of the skin while the sound is made by banging a two-ended wooden beater on the front of the skin in a circular motion. My Bodhrán was made by Brendan White who originally hailed from Youghal in East Cork but moved to The Netherlands where goatskins are much more plentyful than in Ireland. It is a single skin, non-tuneable bodhrán which I bought in Kenmare in 1996.

FEADÓG STÁIN - The Feadóg Stáin or Tin Whistle has been the most basic instrument used in modern Traditional Irish music. I suppose it is to Irish music what the Recorder is to Classical music. There are many different types and makers and I have gone through quite a few at this point. The first one I bought was in the summer of 1996 and was a Shaw "D" whistle. Shaw whistles were modeled on Clarke whistles which were the original English penny whistle which were modeled on the Feadán (timber whistle in use in Ireland for thousands of years in some shape or form). It should be pointed out that there are very few whistles made from tin nowadays. My Shaw whistles are made from nickle with a timber block forming the mouthpiece. I recently bought a cheap Generation whistle which has a plastic mouthpiece and a brass body in "C" for the whistle parts of An Raibh Tú ar an Carraig. I have also bought an aluminium low "Bb" whistle and two American Susato whistles, the first in the ealy 2000's (a low "G") and the second earlier on in 2007 (a regular "D"). The reason I moved from Shaw to Susato was down to tuning. The Shaws I had were always a little off key whilst the Susatos are bang on. I do have on Dixon "D" (with a plastic type of mouthpiece and an aluminium body) but like the Shaws it loses too much air at the mouthpiece and although I am a singer I can't manage the volume of air needed to play what I need to on these whistles.

FEADÁN - The Feadán or wooden whistle is not really used in Irish Music anymore as it has been largely replaced by the feadóg. However, it is still possible to buy them in other countries and as a result I have a few which I have been using for the last year or so. I found them in a shop in Northern Greece where they are imported from India. It is possible to find cheap feadáns in tourist shops all over the Eastern Mediterranean but not ones that can be played with other instruments as they tend to be seriously off key. The two I have were made in the early 2000's from Bamboo and thread and are in Low "D#" and low "F" I believe that the feadáns that were used in Ireland would more-than-likely have been made from elder (which is the easiest native Irish timber to hollow out the inside of its smaller branches.

CORN - My Corn or Horn comes from a cow from the Indian Sub-Continent somewhere. It was bought for me in England at a Medieval Fair in late 2004. I cut the end of the horn off with a saw and started hollowing out a mouthpiece which I am still refining.

PIOBCORN - This has three main components, the reed, the barrel and the cow horn at the end. The reed is made from a type of cane and is inserted into the barrel with some beeswax. The barrel itself is made from a wider section of cane and has had four holes burned into it (three on top and one underneath). It is tuned to the key of "E" and plays five notes in total. This was got for me by a friend in Sardinia in August of 2007 and I believe may be a version of the piobcorn which was played in Ireland a thousand years ago.

CUISLE - or chanter. The practice chanter I have I bought in Mc Neill's music shop on Capel St. in Dublin in 2003. It is made from Rosewood and some form of plastic. As most of these are cheaply made in Pakistan at the moment I am presuming that this is where it came from. It is tuned to the key of "G".