It always amuses me - This thing about wether or not a song is Irish.
There has always been a lot of cross-fertilisation in the Folk world
(Yes that is a polite way of saying Stealing!) and a lot of the blame lies with the people who publish the 'Irish' Song books , who totally
disregard the wtiters in so many cases. Ewan Mc Coll Eric Bogle and
Ralph McTell all appear in 'Irish' Song books.