Cornelius Lyons (– c.1740) was an Irish harper and composer active in the early eighteenth century. Born in County Kerry, he came to be the harper of the Earl of Antrim.
Donnchadh Ó hAmhsaigh, known in English as Denis Hempson was a great admirer of Cornelius Lyons. At the Belfast Harp Assembly of 1792, he played a number of Baroque-style variations that Lyons wrote on Irish traditional tunes such as "Eileen A Rún" and "The Coolin". Only one original piece by Lyons survives; this is "Miss Hamilton" (Inion i Hamilton), written in 1706.[1]