Irish Trad

[JimLucas]

In Pete Seeger's book The Incompleat Folksinger, he describes his visit to the Fleadh Ceol in 1964, including:

Many of the young people wandering into town with knapsacks on their backs also had guitars with them.  This instrument was not really approved by the Fleadh committee, since it had been the vehicle for so much imported American folk music.  And the traditionalists felt emphatically that ballads should be unaccompanied.  But I have a suspicion that, twenty-five years from now, the guitar, too, may be considered kosher.  After all, when did the accordion make its appearance?

(Considering what I've learned from folks here, probably earlier than he realized when he said that. )