Keith

Still too busy to tackle the general point - but let me pick one nit, if I may!

With the possible exception of "Will you come to the bower?", I can't think offhand of any song of American origin that would fit into the class "Irish Rebel Songs" as I would think of it. While there were lots of sentimental Oirish songs produced in the 19th and early 20th C., few of them are overtly or even covertly political. I suspect that to regard anything that, directly or indirectly, comments on British rule in Ireland as an "Irish Rebel Song" is not going to be helpful!

Regards

p.s. Skiberreen is an interesting one alright - whatever its origins. The alternative endings of "Remember Skibbereen" and "Revenge for Skiberreen!" can have very different impacts!