Ironically, many die-hard folkies would have hated the Irish songs because they've been "sung to death"... what may be a boring old outworn song to those involved the folk scene, can be a brand-new enjoyable song to those who aren't involved the folk scene

Very good point, livelylass- I was recently at a new "celtic" session in a nearby town, and was touched at how excited a couple of talented young 20-something brothers were at having recently discovered "Wild Rover", "Wild Colonial Boy" and a few others of that ild. I gave them "Wild Mountain Thyme" (in keeping with the wild theme) and they were very moved by it.