John Rea was born in Glenarm in 1922, he is regarded as one of the finest hammered dulcimer players to have graced these shores. He was the youngest of ten children, his father who was a great fiddle player taught six of his sons the fiddle, John was deemed too small for the fiddle so his father had a dulcimer made for him. From the age of eight, he played the instrument in his way, rather than the usual wooden hammers he used his unique metal spokes wound with wool for his style of playing.  He passed away in November 1983 and is buried in Glenarm graveyard with an appropriate dulcimer on the headstone.