Well, there IS good news. I see by Corries.com that I Know Where I Am Going/Paddie Herself has been released as a double CD with 29 tracks. This is the first I have been made aware of this, and I HAVE looked before. (Follow the Paddie Bell link on the left to her other recordings.)

It gives the date of Paddie Herself as 1965, as listed in the Discography above. It also agrees with Ballyholme that the release of I Know Where I Am Going was in 1968.

This is certainly at odds with the theory that her version was the first. If The Clancys recorded it in 66, that would be two years earlier than hers. It could be that it was recorded as noted in 63 or thereabouts and not released until later. Stay tuned. (No matter what, her version still gets my vote as the best.)