Thanks George.
All these songs come alive when you start following them up.
I've just annotated nearly 500 songs in preparation for making them available on the Clare County Library web-site - in some cases, the problem has been that there is far too much information on many of them to use - songs like Spancil Hill are a good example of such.
One of the neglected traditions has been local songs that have been made by local people to comment on local events and features.
I've managed to pin-point nearly 100 songs made in this area of West Clare that haven't passed into the national repertoire- we're hoping that a local-history group will agree to co-operate in publishing them as a fund-raiser for their activities.
Spancil Hill is an example of one of the exceptions that has slipped te net and become more widely known.
Best
Jim Carroll