The lirnyk was an itinerant Ukrainian

Ukrainians

Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...

 musician who performed religious, historical and epic songs to the accompaniment of a lira

Lira (instrument)

The lira, or relia, is a variant of the hurdy-gurdy, an instrument which can trace its history back to the 10th century. Regarding the origins of the lira in the region there are two schools of thought:...

, the Ukrainian version of the hurdy-gurdy.

Lirnyky were similar to and belonged to the same guilds as the better known bandura

Bandura

Bandura refers to a Ukrainian plucked string folk instrument. It combines elements of a box zither and lute, as well as its lute-like predecessor, the kobza...

 players known as kobzar

Kobzar

A Kobzar was an itinerant Ukrainian bard who sang to his own accompaniment.-Tradition:Kobzars were often blind, and became predominantly so by the 1800s...

s. However, the lirnyk played the lira, a kind of crank-driven hurdy-gurdy, while the kobzars played the lute-like bandura

Bandura

Bandura refers to a Ukrainian plucked string folk instrument. It combines elements of a box zither and lute, as well as its lute-like predecessor, the kobza...

s. Lirnyky were usually blind or had some major disability. They were active in all areas of Ukraine from (at least) the 17th century on.

The tradition was discontinued in Eastern/Central Ukraine in the mid-1930s, some lirnyky were seen in the regions of Western Ukraine until the 1970s and even the 1980s.

Today, the repertoire of the instrument is mostly performed by educated, sighted performers. Notable performers of the lira include Mykhailo Khai, Vadim (Yarema) Shevchuk, and Volodymyr Kushpet

Volodymyr Kushpet

Volodymyr Kushpet is an influentian Ukrainian baritone singer, and player on torban, kobza, bandura and lira, noted reconstruction of traditional playing techniques on these instruments....

.

Sources

• Humeniuk, A. - Ukrainski narodni muzychni instrumenty - Kiev: Naukova dumka
  Naukova Dumka
  Naukova Dumka is a publishing house in Kiev, Ukraine.It was established by the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in 1922, and is one of the oldest scientific and academic publishing houses in the former USSR...
  
  , 1967
• Mizynec, V. - Ukrainian Folk Instruments - Melbourne: Bayda books, 1984