Not sure of your reference to Walter's recordings Bryan
I have sought in vain for a home for our collection and am still doing so
Our's was the first British/Irish collection to be deposited at National Sound Archive (then The British Institute of Recorded Sound) and was the inspiration for their opening their remit from musicology to Folk song, yet, decades later all but a few recordings are accessible to the general public and they haven't even got our genders right on their indes - Pat has transmogrified into a feller.
Our deal with our singers was that we wanted their songs to stop them dying when they did - they may as well be dead as locked in some inaccessible vault.
I've offered our entire holdings to various places in the UK - so far, no takers
I offered them to one folk club which shall remain nameless and was left with the impression that I was trying to peddle hookey goods (we've never attempted to make a penny out off our collection)
It really does make sense of discussions such as this
Luckily, we have found an Irish University keen not only to take the collection but to put it on line as part of their 'World Music' project - their work on Travellers to date is beyond all oir expectations, so our lot will feel quite at home there
Jim Carroll