5 string or tenor banjo?

I have recently decided I want to get into playing the banjo. I used to play guitar quite a lot but life has put some distance between me and playing and I want to start on something new. I'm Scottish and would prefer to play traditional Scottish and Irish music over bluegrass which has me favouring the tenor banjo. My only question is can a tenor banjo be used to play rhythm? From my limited research the tenor banjo seems to fill the role of a "lead" instrument, although I have to admit I spent most of my time just watching videos of Barney McKenna playing and just being amazed for the past few days. Can you use a tenor banjo to play the chords under a melody or is it reserved for fast paced melody picking? Also I never used a pick/ plectrum when playing guitar and I'm not sure if this would hinder my playing on the banjo. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!