Trivia: Seems me grand-auntie was an amateur beer historian; and W11 will run Family Tree Maker 7.0, all 48MB of it! Lot's of back story but nothing new really:

Part I: Male Toxicity -
The 1770-80 lyrics turned on Crofton-Croker's 1839 quotes of author John Banim's 1822 letter in the London Literary Register. The original wasn't retrievable in the 1990s, still ain't in 2023, so far. Everything before that is instrumental marching music or ball room. If the lyrics did exist, they would be the “cadence” (jody) versions.

...a terrible fight between the Garryowen and Thomond Gate boys––two sections of the city. This latter part of the rite (the fight) was not Pagan, but Christian. [Lenihan]

The “City” of Limerick was Newtown Pery. Thomond Gate was old Norman Englishtown, equal parts Catholic & Protestant. Garryowen was native Irishtown, all Catholic. The Fitzgerald & O'Connell blood feud was as old as dirt. The City Militia was almost all Garryowen Boys, hence the large number of combatants.

Johnny O'Connell (c.1757 – c.1835) was what old-school Euro-Bahamians used to call a “chippy,” ie: a chip on his shoulder, (American.) Or the more toxic/violent “coat-dragger” (Irish.)

The City Brewery (1739) was the first in Limerick. That would be the earliest for any brewers or brewers' sons to be hanging about at the fair.

More to follow...