JAN MUYLLAERT, ARDBRACCAN, NAVAN, BORN 1947

Jan Muyllaert, a native of Antwerp, came to live in Ireland in 1972 at the age of 25. He had originally come to Ireland on a working holiday in the late 1960s, and he busked around the country. He had learned his craft of musical instrument making in Antwerp and he had also worked for a short time as a draughtsman with an architectural company there. He recalls his early days in Navan, his marriage to Marie Finegan from The Silver Tankard and his immersion in the Irish way of life. He set up a very successful instrument making business in 1976 and, on a tour around his workshop, he discusses the tools of his craft, its techniques, and the growth of his harp-making business.