Don't read books about Irish music. Find a good session and play it.

That's from experience. I once got a book about the Chieftains. The first bit was interesting, but once they got famous it was just name dropping. I couldn't care less about how many celebs booked them for private parties.

Well, actually, just ONE book (that's all it took, yeah, just one book... there's a song in there somewhere). Last Night's Fun by Ciaran Carson - and there's a cross- cultural name for you.