A post like that from Jeff Irwin makes hanging around in dusty libraries(not to mention smoky pubs) very worthwhile. You do some serious background research on obscure lake district folk music, write an article and push it out tentatively into the world, and suddenly a bloke turns up like Jeff. Living on the other side of the world, never even knew he had a famous fiddler for a greatgreat grandfather, and you're able to supply him with some family history to be proud of. And some new music to listen to.
   Maybe Jeff will be emboldened to take up the fiddle and play Cumbrian traditional tunes. Or some of the rest of the family, William Irwin was quite a prolific breeder himself. If his descendants have followed in his footsteps, there should be hundreds around by now! Enough to power a Cumbrian folk music revival just within the family.