It's not surprising that HTTW is well known on both sides of the Irish Sea. Don't forget that the 18th and 19th centuries were times of great cultural interchange between England and Ireland with large numbers of Irishmen in the army and navy and large numbers of irish navigators bulding first canals and then railroads in England. There would have been quite a few tunes swapped around campfires.

As for Herge's critic he is obviously unaware that Belfast is a long way from Kerry and that musical styles and traditions are regional rather than national.

As someone who has more yours of playing music from Ireland than this guy has lived and has had the pleasure to play along with Herge I can truly say that his opinions are bollox!

I suspect it's not his accent that marks him out.