To have loved and lost: New documentary explores Irish love lives through song

Irish ‘hang-ups’ about drink, sex, and unrequited love are explored in a TV series starting this week.

“GK Chesterton said once of the Irish that all their wars are merry and all their songs are sad,” says series director Paddy Hayes, who has put together six programmes scrutinising the pet obsessions of the Irish through their songs.

“We never sing about love that’s reciprocated, for example — it’s always about the love that’s unobtainable or unrequited.