I have noticed had that people in this thread are referred to as "Irish" even if their famlies have lived for many generations as citizens of te US. Does this principle apply to immigrants of all ethnic groups in American? I imagine with ethnic groups that are visually recognisable(eg black or Chinese) this would last for ever, but how does the principle apply to the English,or Norwegian immigrant to America?
    And on the subject pf non-Irish songs(as opposed to non irish people): it is the humorous misappropriations into the "celtic" canon that give me most pleasure. My personal favourites are the identification of "Any old iron" as an Irish folksong on an intenet site; a song of more gungoho Lodon-ness could not be imagined. I have also seen "The lish young buy-a-broom" identified as Irish many times, which is a bit funny when you consider it is written in noerth-western English dialect, and the action of the song takes place between Kirkby Stephen and Kendal. Now, I am perfectly delighted if anybody wants to sing these songs in Tralee or Timbuktu, but it takes more than a Clannad or Dubliners recording to localise a song in a new home fully. That is a slightly longer process.