Dear harp of my country

by James W. Flannery

Thomas Moore's Irish Melodies have been known and loved throughout the world since their composition in the early nineteenth century. Before radio and the phonograph, the sheet music for T̀is the Last Rose of Summer" sold one and a half million copies in the United States alone! The songs of Moore have now found a voice to bring them alive for a new generation. In Dear Harp of My Country, author and singer James Flannery presents the story of Ireland's first national poet against the backdrop of his nation's turbulent history, and restores the Irish Melodies to their spare, original settings, accompanied only by the Irish harp. The resulting text and recordings are a stirring tribute to the legacy of Thomas Moore, and to the enduring power of music and song within the Irish cultural tradition.