Er...Jem, you should prehaps read what I wrote. I did not say that modern keyless flutes were old traditional instruments, but they are indeed part of, a continuation of, a "grand old tradition" of "simple" wind instruments with six finger holes found in many folk music cultures, and therefore especially suitable for devotees of the traditional dance tunes of Ireland.
Modern keyless flutes are specially suited for playing the "old" traditional tunes of Ireland, whereas I'd say keyed flutes are more suitable for "neo-trad" modern tunes that make use of accidentals
Neo-trad music on neo-trad flutes." Jemtheflute
Before modern makers started making keyless flutes, many of the Irish traditional musicians would remove the keys, and plug the fingerholes of their old English flutes. Keyed flutes aren't necessary for Irish trad. They are nice although somewhat expensive, you can play "trad" and "neo-trad tunes" on them, and the keys stop the flute rolling of the session table, but as I said the true path to enlightenment, tranquility, and financal solvency is a wooden flute with six fingerholes, no unnecessary metal to trip you up
"The fact that ITM took advantage of disused old keyed classical flutes and recycled them for their predominantly key not really required repertoire does not make it a tradition derivative of the other." Talasiga.
Exactly
