Brian Peters refers with approval to Jim Carroll's remarks about modern composed songs "entering the tradition". So sensible are those remarks, and (more to the point) so beautifully put, I thought I would reproduce them here so you can see them without looking back.
Here you go: nice one Jim.

"Song-making still goes on in Ireland, much of it nowhere near as self-conscious and introspective as that to be found in the UK. The Cap'n will probably be aware of Con 'Fada' O'Driscoll who continues to churn our such magnificent pieces as 'The Spoons Murder', 'The Pool Song' and a recent masterpiece 'Ben Hur', but as popular as these become, they stand little or no chance of becoming traditional as the machinery has been dismantled and that particular factory has been pulled down."

And, I might add, though most of the machinery has been dismantled in the British Isles, it is still working very well in other cultures and countries. And if you are interested, you can go and have a listen.