"You are right that in order to access the material from which to form a balanced viewpoint you probably need access to a university library"
You are missing the point David
Governments actually remove historical documents they deem sensitive
I've already mentioned the post Easter Week trials - they have never been available and I doubt if they ever shall be
Recently masses of British documents disappeared in an administration "botch-up", including the 'Zinoviev Letter' - accident or or chnge of political circumstances
The other example I mentioned, that of the David Ben Gurion manuscripts, was most definitely the latter.
A period of history almost contemporary with Leitrim - that of the Congolese enterprises of Leopold II, King of Belgium provide an example of the powerful hiding their misdeeds on a grand scale
10 million Congolese tribesmen died in the ruthless pursuit for rubber, churchmen wrote about it, protesters like Mark Twain produced pamphlets on it, yet a little more than a decade after the events the world was plunged into war, one of the slogans that brought about that bloodbath was "The Rape of Gallant Little Belgium"
When Leopold's business crumbled into ruins his staff spent three days incinerating the records.
No great importance has been attached to Leopold's behaviour in the intervening 120 years
We are told what is considered fit for for us to know on certain subjects, no more   
"Fiona Slevin,"
Who he/she?
As far as I know, the main research on Leitrim was done by local researcher, Liam Dolan, a non historian
He drew his information from local records, newspapers, parish documents and contemporary local accounts
If his and local claims contradicted documented accounts of Leitrim's behaviour you might have a point
There is no documented account as far as I am aware, local records and accounts and the songs and stories are all we have to go on.
There seems to be a lot of "it didn't happen because it's detrimental to Britain's colonial record if it did" going on here
We don't know for certain, but it's more than possible that it happened - that's what empowered maen do, given the opportunity - go ask the victims of Harvey Weinstein or Jimmy Savile or the rapist priests...
I really think we've said all that needs to be said on this particular song (one of a dozen or so on the same evil character)
Jim Carroll