“…Although songs and singing are major genres of Irish oral tradition that have been studied from various points of view (Ó Tuama 1960, Partridge 1983, Ó Madagáin 1985, Uí Ógáin 1988, and Mac Aodha 1996, investigative studies regarding the terms in which texts are constructed in an oral context have been rare. Little knowledge is available regarding the dynamics of the interplay enacted between performers, texts, and receivers at a practical level in a living community.…”