Share 'Minstrel Jigs'

I'm new to the minstrel world, but on first blush, many of the old 2/4 "jigs" sound to me a bit like Irish barn dances from Donegal. Which makes sense I suppose. I've heard it said that barn dances came over to Ireland from the US... New York to be precise. Can anyone confirm--or clarify? (Or point me to a previous thread... this must have been discussed before now :)