There are several ways of using a single slide harmonica for playing in keys D & G for Irish music. This post could come under the category of "Too Much Information!", but it's something I've thought about a lot - so here are some ideas to mull over:
FLIPPED SLIDER SOUND
Using a D chrom to play in D & G is better for Irish music than using a G. In my experience, trad tunes lay better for both keys on the D.
In my opinion the Forerunner will be too airy and quiet for Irish sessions. You'd be better off using a valved chromatic, like a Hohner CX-12, Hohner 270, Suzuki SCX-48 or some other brand that comes in low D.
If you want a flipped-slide sound, you could retune all the slider notes down two semitones. It's not that difficult.
Or, if you prefer not to, try this: buy two Hohner 270s in Low C and Low D. Swap the lower reedplate from the Low C onto the comb of the Low D. That way you will have D/C# without flipping the slide.
BEBOP TUNING
The tricky part in playing in G on a D chrom for Irish music is in the hole 4/8 area, where you're missing the 4th of the G scale (the C natural) with the slide out
A good way to get both keys more evenly balanced is to tune the harmonica to Bebop Tuning. That means retuning the left-hand D blow note down to C. Here's the slide-out scale in D (blow notes to the left):
DE. F#G. AB. CC#. DE. F#G. AB. CC#. DE. F#G. AB. CC#
This way you have both full D and G scales with the slide out. If using flipped-slide sound, you can retune the draw slider note in hole 4/8 to D to retain a D note in holes 4/8.
SLIDE-DIATONIC SOUND: Slide Up
Assuming you use a Bebop tuned chrom in D, instead of the slider going to the semitone below, you could make it a Slide-Diatonic. This would allow you to buy a single chrom in Low D and raise some slider notes.
Doing this will give you a good sound for Irish music and lots of enharmonic notes to help play tricky phrases. Here's the scale:
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SLIDE OUT D. E. F#. G. A. B. C. C#. D
SLIDE IN. E. F#. G. A. B. C. D. D. E
If you half-valve it you can bend a lot of the draw reeds to get the missing chromatic notes.
SLIDE-DIATONIC SOUND: Slide Down
Alternatively you could keep the flipped slide approach but retune some of the slider notes lower for a more authentic traditional sound. Here's the scale I'd suggest for Bebop Tuning:
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SLIDE OUT D. E. F#. G. A. B. C. C#. D
SLIDE IN. C#. D. E. F#. G. A. B. C. C#
Lots of enharmonics, for the good reasons mentioned above, and it can be half-valved for draw bends.
IRISH SESSION HARP
An entirely different approach is to make a slide harmonica with two equal keys in Solo Tuning, D and G, located in the same place on each reedplate and selected by a slide without a spring. I made these for a while under the name The Irish Session Harp:
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SLIDE OUT: DE. F#G. AB. DC#. DE. etc
SLIDE IN: GA. BC. DE. GF#. GA. etc
You can buy the same thing now from Seydel under the name The Sampler, in different keys.
This is an easy way to play in the home keys of D and G without having to relearn all the G tunes with different breathing patterns.
Too much information? Haha... I could go on, but that's enough for now...