I know I'm always banging on about this, so please bear with me those of you who've heard this before, but:

It's only fair to credit Dr. Donal O'Sullivan's seminal work Carolan - The Life, Times & Music of an Irish Harper as the source from which the Fiddler's Companion, Contemplator, and so many more sites and later authors draw their material, and the words above were taken from his book. It was O'Sullivan's original research - genealogical, historical and musical - that forms the basis for so much of what has now become received knowledge about Carolan, and he really must be recognised as such. Without his work, there would be nothing for the internet to cherry-pick.