}Genie - just for the record: I don't know Carrickfergus and don't ever recollect hearing it sung. What made you pick on that one, I wonder?"

I got that impression from reading Mudcat threads about a) songs "everybody knows" and/or b) songs that are so overdone that "everybody's sick of 'em." LOL
(The latter kind of reminds me of Yogi Berra's remark about some popular hangout:
"Nobody goes there any more - it's too crowded!")