The bodhrán is perhaps the most difficult of all modern Irish instruments to write a history of. This is because single-skin drums and simple percussive instruments are among the most universal of all instruments found in native cultures all around the world. This is no exception in Ireland, and much of the discussion surrounding the history of the instrument is centred around the etymological history, essentially asking at what point did the instrument become referred to as a bodhrán.

The word bodhrán itself is even difficult to assess, with historians and linguists being unsure of the word’s origin and when it became used to describe the single-skin drum. The most likely origin of the word is the Irish word bodhar, which is defined in modern Irish as deaf, dull or muted. Bodhrán maker Carmel Tobin argued the word originally meant ‘skin tray’ and was a tool for carrying farming utensils, which could be repurposed as a drum to play with other musicians. The word bodhrán was featured in Wexford man Jacob Pool’s glossary of the area for English speakers, which is dated from the mid-19th Century. However, it is certainly an older word as earlier documents that date from the 15th Century use bodhrán infrequently, meaning that the use of the word to describe a single skin drum has been in the Irish language for around six to seven hundred years.

The modern professional bodhrán likely evolved from the tambourine, which was heavily used as the primary percussive instrument in Irish music for some centuries before. Many people and texts still refer to the bodhrán as the ‘poor man’s tambourine' due to the drums simplicity, as modern variations typically only account for size and material.The popularity of the instrument grew during the folk revival of the 1960s and it became a staple on the recordings and live shows of artists such as Seán Ó Riada and the Chieftans. Today the bodhrán is a widely played and popular instrument. It is the primary percussion instrument of Irish folk bands in pubs and small venues, but in live shows that are louder and feature more electronic instruments, it is not uncommon for standard drum kits to be used in place of the bodhrán.