Thanks everyone for the suggestions, and yes Carole for pontardawe. It's about time I popped my singer's night cherry so to speak.

The girl who makes the thingummybob is a good one though I'm not sure if I could carry it off but very much the sentiment I was looking for.

The Ballad of Ira Hayes also good but too well known and associated with Cash for me to tackle.

MacDonell on the Heights is a possibility and shouldn't be too daunting to try, I wasn't at all familiar with the story though so I'll need to read up more on that.

Forgotten Hero by Andy Irvine is excellent, though as an english man could I get away with singing it even if I agree with the sentiment?

I was also looking at Al Grierson's candle for durruti which I know from David Rovic's version

Re opportunities for new songs I learnt about the Spanish's use of live carriers of the smallpox vaccine in the c19th and wondered if there could be a song there from the view of one of the carriers or minor characters more info. Might be a bit beyond my fledgling songwriting abilities though.