Ed, I'll lend you my Geraldine Cotter book if you send me a PM with your details. Just watch out for the deliberate mistake in a fingering diagram on page 89! (I bet no-one plays that non-existent note between G and F sharp like Big Mick...)

This book comes with a good collection of tunes - the slow airs are particularly useful, as these can be harder to find than jigs and reels. Unfortunately the notation is a bit basic by publishing standards - I can't begin to sight-read hornpipes when they are printed without their dotted rhythms.

As well as visiting the acclaimed C&F, anyone starting out will be interested to visit The Pennywhistle Workshop which I've mentioned in other threads. It includes tunes recorded slowly enough for beginners to play along.

Don't know Clarkes but I'd like to put a word in for Generations. Quality control is not great, so you need to find a shop that lets you try before buying. Or just buy three - they're cheap enough - and odds on, at least one will be a fine instrument for years. You can get them in a good range of keys without needing to change to another make or type, and the key is marked prominently on each whistle. (This can be critical in a smoke-filled room.) What I play most of the time is a Susato D - lovely tone, loud, tunable, just a bit temperamental in the higher octave - a veritable warhorse for less than a tenner. Seems like it's only when you get to the low-pitch instruments that normal rules start to apply - ie extra spend is definitely going to mean extra quality.

Roger,those pub-based tutorial workshops could be just what I need, especially in an ambience where I can't hear myself playing. I'll definitely be up there one of these days. BTW, what happened to that Overton?