the original question on this thread was where did the clancys learn the wild rover. at a recent concert in armagh, liam clancy stated he learned it from luke kelly in the early 60's. if you listen to the clancys first recording of the song (recorded live in ireland), liam expresses surprise at the fact that the audience already knew it. when liam returned to america after learning the wild rover from a relatively unknown luke kelly, the wild rover was a relatively unknown song in ireland. but in the space of a few short months it became hugely populor from the singing of luke kelly and the dubliners, it was the dubliners first single and it was a chart hit in ireland (although it is clearly not an irish song).