Oh, and dammit, I'd forgotten the whole Aisling tradition - 18th-century sung poems, in which Ireland is visualised as a woman, sometimes young and beautiful, sometimes old, but always waiting for the poet to rescue her - and usually also waiting for Bonnie Prince Charlie, in various guises - An Buachall (the boy), Mac an Cheannaire (the Merchant's Son) and so on.

These were disguised as love songs, as singing a political song could get you hanged from the nearest bridge.

The best known is Roisin Dubh, translated as My Dark Rosaleen; the haunting tune of Roisin Dubh should be played to the children, though.

Padraig Pearse composed a 20th-century equivalent, Mo Gile Mear, addressing Bonnie Prince Charlie as "My swift hero", which is still sung with enthusiasm; Mary Black has a version of it, and there's bunches more.

Then if it's a boyish sort of song you're after, there's Priosun Cleann Meala (Clonmel Prison), where a boy waits, his hurley and ball stashed at the end of the bed, remembering the days when he was a sporting hero, for his hanging in the morning; this is sung to a tune supposed to be the original from which Streets of Laredo was taken, though it's apparently a common enough tune across Europe.