The emphasis in this book is essentially on the state of Irish music at the present time. After a brief introduction and a survey of the work of those who have collected and written down Irish traditional music, the author goes on to discuss the structure and style of the music and to describe fully the distinctive features of sean-ns singing (traditional 'old style' singing in Irish) and the uilleann pipes and fiddle as they are played today. The styles of three well known musicians -- piper Paddy Keenan, fiddle player Matt Cranitch and the singer Diarmuid O'Silleabhin -- are described in detail and many musical examples, along with song-texts and translations, are given. The influence of traditional instruments on the shape of the music is discussed at some length, as well as the social context of sean-ns singing.