It will seem daunting at first but then so does anything worthwhile. You’re far better off learning to play the tunes, too.
I don’t know everything but I’d say you probably wouldn’t want to accompany a fiddle player with left hand chords on the accordion. In Irish traditional music, everyone plays the melody together and only one or two people play chords, almost always on guitar or bouzouki, or a piano if the pub has one (rare).
