What was the biggest obstacle in preserving traditional Irish music?

Irish music can be traced back almost two thousand years ago when Celts arrived in Ireland. While traveling to Ireland the Celts left their mark of musical culture if Spain and Brittany, Scotland and France.

The harp is the traditional Irish instrument which was dominant from the 10th to 17th Century. In the 17th Century, the harp tradition reached its peak and all harpists were professional musicians and were employed by the ruling Chieftains, under patronage system to make and perform music.

In 1607 the Chieftains fled the country after several attacks by invaders, It was an obstacle to the harpists and the music tradition as a whole. They lacked professional titles and were known as "traveling" harpists. The Great Famine of the 1840s where over one million people died with the traditions of songs, stories, and tunes.