You mean I'm going to have to reread "Irish Folk Music - A Fascinating Hobby" all over again??!!

Let's stick to polkas for now. If Vallely is right about the dates for introduction of the type into Ireland, O'Neill is most unlikely to have heard what we now think of as sliabh luachra polkas. In a way, the more interesting problem is to try to plot the timeline for absorption of the tune type into the Irish tradition - in those few places where it happened before the advent of recordings. Was there a phase of general popularity followed by sporadic local survival - or was it simply taken up sporadically and never outgrew its original breeding ground? I suspect the latter - and the enormous influence one or two gifted player/teachers could have. I have a vague suspicion that someone has done or is doing a Master's thesis in University of Limerick on a related topic.

Regards