'Maybe Ireland didn't have, until recently, such a strong tradition of singing songs in English, so there were fewer songs to collect.'
Tom Munnelly, collector for the Irish Folklore Department, has collected 20,000 songs, mainly in English. Included in these are 50 plus of the Child Ballads, several of which have not turned up in Britain.
The last major collection published was Sam Henry's 'Songs of the People'.
Jim Carroll