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Life
1695-1807 [occas. O’Hempsey]; b. Craigmore, nr. Garvagh, Co. Derry; blinded by smallpox, he was taught to play harp by Bridget O’Cahan; played before Prince Charles Edward in Scotland, 1745; given house at Magilligan by Bishop Hervey, who also supplied a fowl for his Christmas dinner; he attended the Belfast Harp Festival, 1792; purportedly slept with his harp, which he parted with in old age; bur. at St. Aidan’s Church, Bellarena, Co. Derry - where the gravestone was refurbished in the 2000s. DUB
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