Barra Ó Séaghdha finds much to debate in a recent work on music and Irish identity.

Just a few years ago the publication of a serious study of an aspect of the place of music in Irish culture was a rare and wondrous event. Now, happily, we are getting to the point where those who ignore music will have to justify themselves. The range of topics is expanding: education, rock music, Tory Island singing, Aloys Fleischmann – and here’s another one to add to the pile: Music, Postcolonialism, and Gender / the Construction of Irish National Identity, 1724–1874. This comes from University of Notre Dame Press but has no connection with Field Day Music’s recently launched Irish Composers series. The author, Leith Davis, is associate professor of English at Simon Fraser University, British Columbia. Until the 1970s or 80s, English...