The usual Mudcat-these-days mean reaction to a request- it's all been said before, go and look it up. No "I sing it this way".. "I got it from".. "Sean Nose sang it like..."

I suspect no one here knows what having a song means now.

But sadly, I fear that the search for origins will be in vain. Search Comhltas archives, not here, and Cecil Sharp House, and RTE maybe, and write to Shirley Collins because she knows where to look, but in the end I think all you'll find is "Ireland"... and not even much of a terminus post.