Around here they tend to discourage bodhrans because of the effect they have on the music that is played here - that is not the type of music those involved in sessions go in for.
That is not stylish restriction, in fact, the opposite.
If the bodhran were to become part of the music scene the nature of the music would change - the bodhran would have imposed its own sound onto a session largely made up of flutes, fiddles and concertinas.
The same goes for accompanied singing - only more so
Jim Carroll