Jim Carroll I believe lives in Miltown Malbay a place which by his own admission where he and his partner had years before found
   "amongst the singers and musicians of Co. Clare, they discovered a healthy attitude towards indigenous music. They recorded songs and stories from the region around Miltown Malbay" (http://www.folkmusic.net/htmfiles/inart558.htm)
In a post above he remarks that,
"traditional music is thriving here - half-a-dozen-plus weekly music and song sessions in this one-street town alone, and radio and television programmes on traditional music nightly."
In a very small community with a strong tradition and subsidised broadcasting it is no surprise that traditions persist. I live in a large working class town in the north of England where the predominant social interests over the last 30/40 years seem to have been beer drinking and pop music. I think that the fact that even small pockets of people retain an interest in folk music ( even if it may not live up to Mr Carroll's exacting standards) in this type of setting is even more remarkable than it surviving in a small time capsule in Miltown Malbay; which I notice advertises itself as the home of folk music in Ireland.
john