a few thoughts

   Historically, Irish music was never played in pubs in Ireland, it was in peoples' homes. The Irish workers who rebuilt London postwar lived in lodgings and had no kitchens & the modern pub music trsdition was the result.
   Educate yourselves about this time by listening to Reg Hall's talk about Irish music in London at ITMA some years ago. on youtube, see 'Reg Hall-Irish in London'- I don't do lnks.

   I moved to West Cork in 1985, and there was very little Irish music in the Mizen area. What did exist was played in the pubs by largely English people who had come through the folk clubs & aware of the real Irish tradition, while the locals were not. It had its limitations but maybe those 'blow-ins' woke something up & there seems to be a thriving scene there nowadays.
So-called 'sessions' vary a lot, but, I do note that the Irish are much more into actual participation, e.g in 'Rosie's of Ballydehob or 'Arundels' in Schull, locals were much more inclined to join in, or shout out 'I'll give you a song' than they are in rural Scotland, where I now live