Just out of curiosity, I read all the indexed references to "music" (there were none for "song") in Seumas MacManus' The Story of the Irish Race. There is no mention of any banned or illegal songs or music. Of course that does not prove anything, but I picked that history off my shelf because of its slant: "to put some of the necessary knowledge and pride in the minds and hearts of his people." And also because of its emphasis on the cultural aspects of Irish history. I figured that if songs had indeed been banned, an author like MacManus would be most likely to mention it. No mention.

I also just finished reading Georoid O hAllmhurain's A Pocket History of Irish Traditional Music. Unfortunately, the book has no index, but I don't remember anything about banned songs. (Again, that doesn't prove anything--just an indication.)

It seems to me that the times most likely to have songs made illegal might have been during the Elizabethan reign, when, if I'm remembering correctly, Irish harps were systematically destroyed. Or possibly during the period of the Penal Laws with the songs of the Jacobites. But is there any evidence?

My guess is that rather than specific songs being made illegal, it was probably risky to sing or whistle certain songs because you might get beaten by a Peeler, say, or some other enforcing authority. That's not really the same as being illegal.

Cheers,

David