It is a nice topic for a thread, I agree. But I don't see any contradiction in your quote to what I said.

From what I know, the oldest form of music in Ireland to survive in the modern era was probably women's caoineadh. But there is nothing that exists to prove it.

The other thing is, while I appreciate the accuracy of the text you quoted for it's time, 1979 is pretty dated for ethnomusicological documentation in Ireland. No one has found any long lost song or tune texts, AFAIK!

Slan agus beannacht