Among Travellers, who were the main source of 'Big Ballads' in Ireland, the load was evenly spread between men and women.
Ballads like Lamkin, The Maid and the Palmer, Young Hunting, Lord Gregory, The Grey Cock... were all sung by men, while Lord Randall and Edward turned up mainly from women. The Outlandish Knight, probably the most common ballad from Travellers over here, turned up regularly from both, but mainly women.
Mary Delaney from Tipperary was one of the most skilful narrative singers we came across. She was blind from birth and sang in public from the age of four. Her disability and the fact that she raised fourteen children (and led a life that would supply the plot for a good Dostoevsky novel), somewhat limited her activities around the home or working at the traditional Traveller occupations, but she did make some money singing for crowds at fairs and markets and occasionally in pubs. The first money she ever earned was at a village concert in Tipperary, aged seven. She never participated in the trade of 'ballad selling'; the selling of printed song sheets (some traditional, others not) on the streets, particularly at animal fairs and markets , which was predominantly a Traveller occupation and persisted right up to the mid 1950s.
Jim Carroll