I am trying to make a decision on an Irish flute, one of Doug Tipple’s. And I’ve narrowed the choice down to the key of G, F, or D. I know that D is the traditional choice, but I’m concerned about the finger spacing since I’ve had some difficulty with wide spacing on a bamboo flute. I understand G is fairly popular, but I have not heard anything about F.
Thoughts, suggestions, comments are appreciated. G, F, or D?
You might want to post this on the Flute Forum. This is the Whistle Forum. I’m just saying this because you will probably get more responses there. Good luck on figuring this out! 
I sugest you start with a nice simple whistle in the key of high D, really you won’t get addicted to it at all and you will never buy more than one…and you will be always, always completely sastisfied with just one and only one whistle and you will be juuuuuust fine…Is it me or is my nose longer than it was just a minute ago…mmmmm…anyway what was I saying…
Is it a flute or whistle you are after?
In either case you will need to get a D - nearly all traditional Irish tunes are played on the D whistle or simple sytem flute with basic key being D maj.
You can also opt for a multi bodied whistle - cheap[ish] are the susato, which you can get with a choice of Bb, C and D or C, D Eb, and Syn -synwhistles@yahoo.com.au - a set of four bodies [Bb, C, D Eb] with interchangeable head will cost you about £40 GBP including postage from australia.
D or G. Though D is by far the best choice, especially if you intend on playing irish tunes.
Also, consider a whistle to go with your six-holes flute. The fingerings match consistantly through the first and second registers, and when you get sick of learning emouchure, you can relax a bit on the whistle.
If you live around a lot of people, consider buying a lower pitched irish flute, rather than a high pitched fife. The latter were sort of meant to be heard over cannon-fire and such, and… well, yeah.
You can get a what he calls the “3 Piece” Tipple that has a joint between the hands. This will allow you to rotate the body pieces slightly for a more comfy fit. Ya can also get one with offset holes.
Get the wedge for $10 more.
http://home.earthlink.net/~life2all/dougswebspace/index.html
Go see!
You can’t go wrong with a Tipple flute - really!