Good for you Dick- I just wondered why the club has the policy- I wouldn't get into an argument about the relative quality of unaccompanied singing in England and Ireland, but if that's the club's policy, that's fine by me!
I do some songs without my box, but wouldn't be happy doing a whole night-   I like to break up the songs with a few tunes, as Rosie Stewart & sisters do at their wonderful Sunday sessions in Co Leitrim.
That's probably not acceptable in a 'singers' club' for obvious reasons & that's fine too, but I've always been against such strict rules & will act accordingly.

By the way, it's news to me that the Goilin has a 'no instruments' policy- it certainly didn't when I did it several years ago!