A blind Celtic harper, composer and singer in Ireland whose great fame is due to his gift for melodic composition. Carolan was born near Nobber, County Meath, and moved with his family, probably when he was a teenager, to Ballyfarnan, County Roscommon, where his father took a job with the MacDermott Roe family. Mrs. MacDermott Roe gave him an education, and he showed talent in poetry. After being tragically blinded by smallpox, perhaps at the age of eighteen, Carolan was taught the harp for three years.