Just for information, the sourcebook for both Carolan's life and music is "Carolan: The Life, Times and Music of an Irish Harper" by Donal O'Sullivan, published by Ossian Publications, 40 MacCurtain Street, Cork, Ireland; who can be contacted on ossian@iol.ie

This book is an update of Dr. O'Sullivan's definitive 1958 work, and was published in 2001. It has replaced Ossian's "Complete Carolan Collection" referred to above (which showed only tunes without text). This volume contains extensive notes on the music plus a biography and a great deal of other historical info. There is also an appendix (which I wrote) devoted to some subsequent discoveries in a manuscript found in Scotland, plus some other updates and an interesting 1779 memoir by the harper Echlin O'Kean.

Leeneia, you might take a look at some of that "research notwithstanding" before dismissing it.