Leadfingers. No, the bodhrán seems to go way back, but its use was mainly and mercifully confined to parties of wren boys until Sean O' Riada incorporated it into Ceoltóirí Chualann in the 1960s. Indeed, I may be wrong, but I think the first real public airing it got was in the sountrack of the film Playboy of the Western World, for which O' Riada arranged the music.

Crane driver. Wise words. The reason most people, me included, have come to detest the bodhrán is simply that it's all too often seen as an easy option by people who aren't capable of playing anything else. The result is that bodhráns are typically too loud, badly played and far too numerous.