Glad people are enjoying my article and seeing it foster great discussion.

Many of the Irish people in Douglastown were of Loyalist descent, their ancestors having fled the 13 colonies in the late 18th century.  That is, Douglastown was firmly Irish well-before the Famine and was founded by Irish Loyalists.

My best guess is that this music evolved out there, being influenced by all the ethnic groups that lived on the coast.  It was a real melting pot of cultures. It is interesting that a town whose population was about 96% of Irish descent, and strongly culturally Irish until 1960 did not play music that sounds particularly Irish to the modern ear.  To me, it sounds more like a branch of the larger fiddle tradition in Quebec.  Irish people have lived on the Gaspe coast since about 1780, which predates the Irish fiddling that was introduced to other areas of Quebec after the famine where there was an influx of Irish people to the St Lawrence valley area around Quebec City.  I would say that fiddlers like Joseph Allard sound more Irish to me than Douglastown's fiddlers. 

I'm not sure if anyone really knows what Irish fiddle music sounded like before the 19th century.   I would love to know though, because it might answer some questions.  My understanding is that fiddle music in the New World and Old World developed more-or-less simultaneously (Alan Jabbour).  In this sense, New World fiddling is more like a cousin than an offspring to Old World fiddling. 

We have stories of French-speaking fiddlers visiting older Irish Douglastowners to learn tunes.  Apparently in Gaspe, one could learn Quebecois fiddle music from both English and French speaking mentors at one time.