Often called Irish flute, this is a conical-bore, simple-system wooden flute of the type favoured by classical flautists of the early 19th century, or a flute of modern manufacture derived from this design. The vast majority of traditional Irish flute players use a wooden, simple-system flute.

The term 'simple-system' refers to the type of flute manufactured and favoured by classical European musicians during the Classical era. This type of flute is the direct precursor of, and was made obsolete within the art music world by, the introduction of the Boehm system flute. Simple-system flute may also refer to any flute with tone holes played by the direct application and removal of fingers, as opposed to keys, from pre-historical bone flutes to the modern Irish flute.