my father used to say, "the sun never sets on the kilbride family."ation of ireland went from 9 million to 3 million. a lot came to the u.s., to canada, to australia, new zealand, england-- those would've been mainly where the irish went. remember, in those days, when people left home, they didn't see their parents again, that was it. keep in mind that the people coming here didn't speak english. they were from the poorest parts of ireland. and it was tough. irish catholics, especially, they weren't very welcome. they were considered a lower class. what they did have, in spite of that poverty, they did have their culture, they had this amazingly rich repository of instrumental music, of song, of storytelling, in the irish language, of dancing. having socialization with neighbors, hearing the music-- that made up for that loss. that's what they shared together. that's what they passed on to their children. house sessions are a major component of traditional irish music. it's where people would congregate in ireland and even in my own house when i was g