which tuning to choose?
 

I have a passing familiarity now with CGDGAD tuning and to a lesser extent CGDGCD. I would like to grow my familiarity with one of these by arranging celtic type and Carolan melodies but I can only focus on one .
Lots of fingerstyle guitarists whose style I like use CGDGCD but El McMeen seems to be the only one taken with CGDGAD, so I am wondering if there is some draw back to this tuning that the proffesionals who play celtic etc have discovered?
I am not too bothered about playing in lots of keys, C and G are fine and D would be a nice to have bonus but not a requirement as I find Drop D ok for what I do.
My experience with both of these is not enough to make a meaningfull comparison between the two but my early impressions are that CGDGCD produces the more impressive tone but I strugle more with fingering harmonies under the melody but with CGDGAD my fingers seem to find it easier to locate the small chords bellow a melody line but the overall tone is not so impressive somehow.
I would be interested if anyone is familiar with both of these tunings and what would make you choose one over the other if you had to choose only one tuning?
Many thanks for any comments.

It's all I can do to struggle with & make sense of EADGBE.

Of those two, I'd pick CGDGAD. There, only the two lower strings are dropped from DADGAD, which is a very versatile tuning. But I'm always looking for what would allow me to play the most types of music.

That's why I stick with good 'ol standard.

I don't think there's any particular drawback to either of these. CGDGCD is essentially DADGAD moved over a string, which gives you some nice cross string effects. But CGDGAD has the 2nd G,A string combination as well, which assists in cross-string DADGAD effects, since the top 3 strings are the same as DADGAD, while giving you G,C, and D as open bass strings. (both do) I think the sus4 sound maybe lends itself more to the celtic guitar sound, which may be what you're detecting as the "tone".

But El does just fine with the other. He picked that tuning up from Dave Evans, and there are some really nice chord voicings available in that tuning. Laurence Juber also uses it now and then (tho not for anything Celtic-sounding)

I seldom play/noodle in standard. I have had my guitars in Orkney tuning,(CGDGCD) and CGDGAD often as I have enjoyed playing arrangements by Stephen Wake and El McMeen over the years. My guitars always seem to gravitate back to DADGAD though.

Thanks for the comments, it's usefull to learn from those much further down this road than I . The three and four string moveable chords available in CGDGAD for me do seem to make it a simpler and more intuitive tuning to arrange melodies in. Surprises me that it's not more popular so I was starting to think what's the catch here?

I don't think there's any catch there necessarily. I think you're wise in trying to find the best one for you. Playing in alternate tunings does offer a lot of variety, but making a commitment to one in particular, like CGDGAD, which is a nice one, will breed familiarity with it and the potential for getting more enjoyment and reward from your time investment.
It's a plus too if you can dedicate one guitar to it to minimize constant re-tuning hassles.
The other side of the coin is someone like Michael Hedges, who first heard the music in his head and then picked the tuning that would match it best.
So I would say, take your time in choosing, and keep an open mind about tweaking things too if it happens to help you better achieve whatever it is that you've tapped into.
As Hedges said: "The secret of discovery....is extremely sweet." :)

Andy--El and Sandy Shalk wrote a book on CGDGAD, discussed here:

https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...d.php?t=548018