I should add they don't just want to hear them..they want to sing them. And we have such a short unbroken tradition of songs that we as Americans, or Irish-Americans in particular on St. Patrick's Day, know and sing, that we shouldn't kill a single one of them as long as anyone wants to sing them. Naturally, this is because most immigrants to America did not speak English..so most songs of most cultures have either been lost entirely due to the vigorous and often abusive efforts to get people to speak English and also deny their heritages. Plus of course there was great intermarriage among groups. Lots of factors..world wars, radio, t.v....who knows.   But we have a few common threads and we shouldn't lose them ..or lose them personally if we find them beneath our dignity, but we shouldn't impose our views on others as long as no one gets hurt by anything. How can a few choruses of My Father's Old Shilleleigh actually hurt anyone?

mg