Malcolm,

Not to quibble on this, but Christy Moore's official website does in fact mention both John Reilly and Tom Munnelly in connection with this song, albeit not in the lyrics section. In particular, this review, which Christy has taken the trouble to put up at the site, not only acknowledges Reilly for singing the song and Munnelly for collecting it, but makes it clear that Christy does so when playing the song in concert.

The people in charge of putting up the lyrics on Christy's site put some songs up with only lyrics, others with lyrics and chords, and a few with an essay by Christy. Only those few with an essay have their traditional sources revealed; otherwise most traditional songs are credited only to "traditional." The songs that don't have an essay state "Sorry no essay at present," so we can hope that eventually all songs will carry Christy's notes. However, in Christy's songbook, in album sleeve notes, and in concert, he routinely sings the praises of John Reilly and Tom Munnelly and credits them with preserving this song.

Finally, the credit on the site is not "Christy Moore; new words," but "Traditional With New Words By Christy Moore." Christy has stated elsewhere that he sometimes had trouble understanding what Reilly was singing, and so filled in words and verses for himself in some of the songs he learned from Reilly. I'm guessing that's all this credit is meant to convey.

Generally, Christy is very conscientious about mentioning his sources, which is why I feel it's important to point this out. I don't think the circumstances merit the word "inexcusable."