far from being driven out, they took over and naused up the revival

Indeed they did. Unfunny 'comedians' and wifty-wafty pseudo-celtic new-age shit all but destroyed it, had it not been for English dance musicians through the 1980s up to the early 90s when things began to look up again. In the intervening years, the very last place to seek out trad was a 'f*lk' club.

The observation about authorship not mattering in the really very recent West Clare tradition is fascinating. Would you consider that this has changed dramatically in line with the West of Ireland's rapid 'modernisation' in recent years? Have the local singers become 'singer-songwriters' like everywhere else?