Singing it in Irish was part of the makey-up Irishness we invented after Independence in order to create a non-British national identity.
Not wanting to go down the rabbit-hole of Irish identity, or 'non-British' identity, but there was nothing "makey-up" about it all.
A mere 50yrs before partition (1970's in our time) there was still a near 1m native Irish speakers on the island. 50yrs before that, a near 4 million speakers.
Many of those who led the charge for Irish independence were native speakers and many more were inspired to take the fight for independence as a consequence of seeing their native language, their culture and heritage in decline.
Nothing "makey-up" about it all.