PS, the only intolerance about music fight with religious bigots I ever had was with a Protestant organist, who refused to play Ave Maria at my mother's Lutheran memorial service. Since my mother had sung the song Ave Maria at all her sisters' weddings (1 was Catholic, the other two Protestant, and all took place in the late 1930s/early 1940s) this was a deal breaker for us. We fired his ass, and found another very lovely organist (also Lutheran, and appalled at the guy's refusal) who did a bang up job. When we queried the minister about it, she (yes, she) responded that they allow whatever songs/pieces the family requests in their memorial services. So it was this one fundie sort who deemed the performance of "Catholic" music unseemly, even though this was a nursing home chapel that performed both Catholic and Protestant memorial services regularly for deceased residents.

So Poppagator, it may well be there never was a "ban" on Danny Boy, but that your aunties just felt their version of it to be "more appropriate" and blamed it on the priest. Nice, passive aggressive little old ladies do that sort of thing all the time so they don't have to take criticism for a choice they make but fear might have some backlash attached.