Back in the 40s and 50s my Dad did a programme on Radio Eireann
called Ireland is Singing. Songs for the programme were sent in by
listeners and the staff would set them to a tune (for the most part
the songs did not come with any indication of the correct tune) and
they would be sung on the programme. This resulted in a major body
of songs, many of which are not commonly available elsewhere. Here
is a link to about 400 of them: http://songbook1.tripod.com. I am
also uploading a zipped file with all the songs in it (about 250K).

Niall MacDonagh
http://irishbornman.tripod.com.