What we have here are a largish number of 'singing circles' - anything goes sessions which appear to rise or fall on the standard of the singers involved - other than that, there appears to be no other central force holding them together.

While it is true enough that there is no central force, there are perhaps two distinguishable main sources contributing to the growth in "singers circles" in Ireland in recent years. One is the Góilín Singers Club which for many years has held a weekly session in Dublin and has encouraged so many people to have the courage (and the repertoire) to sing traditional songs when the opportunity presents itself. The second is the singing side of Comhaltas which feeds into the song/recitation repertoire of many people around the country.

There is clearly an element of "gathering the wagons in a circle" about such sessions in the face of the difficulty of finding space to sing at the much more common instrumental sessions. Nevertheless, in my experience, the visibility of singing sessions and singers does tend to open that space up somewhat...

Regards