Ceili dances represent an informal tradition of dance that is common to much of humanity since prehistory. Many are structured as sword dances, round dances, line dances, and progressive line dances. The Normans have been credited for introducing the round dance into Ireland around the 12th century. The "rince fada" (long dance) is actually a family of dances, one of which was described in the end of the 17th century as performed by "three persons moving abreast, each of which held the end of a white handkerchief, followed by the rest of the dancers in pairs". The Gaelic Revival in Ireland in the late 19th century destroyed the practice of dancing these dances so effectively that when the Gaelic League decided to resurrect them in the 1920's, they had generally been lost and new dances had to be codified to write the "Ár Rinncidhe Fóirne". Many of the modern ceili dances have known authors. For example, the "Fairy Reel" was composed by An t-Athair Ó Flannagáin around 1930, to a tune written by Neil Gow for the Fife Hunt Ball in Scotland in 1802. It is interesting to compare these to the dances described in "A Handbook of Irish Dances" and some of us will be quite interested to read the publication resulting from the Dundalk Manuscript.

The First Modern Irish Ceilí

The very first modern Irish ceilí was held in London only 100 years ago!! The very first Irish ceilí was held in the Bloomsbury Hall in London only 100 years ago!! It was organised by the Gaelic League which had been formed in 1893 to foster the revival of the Irish language, dancing and music. And the reason why ceilí dances have rarely if ever been part of the pub or bar scene is that historically they never were. The sets originally came to Ireland via the seasons of formal balls and presentations held at Dublin Castle being promoted by the English and Irish upper classes. They were then spread far and wide by professional travelling dancing masters and the local Irish, as in the natural course of things during the 1800s, wished to emulate their assumed betters, and proceeded to learn the latest set dances or quadrilles and steps with great enthusiasm.

The Folk Process

Again in the natural course of evolution [the so-called folk process] the dances became Irish-fied with the fancy French balletic footwork being replaced by neat tappity-tap footwork which is now called ‘battering’ [but not the all too prevalent stomping as seen and heard to frequently now-a-days] and the formal tunes being replaced by whatever the local musicians could play - mainly Irish reels and jigs.

The First Sets

Exactly where the sets were danced has been well researched, e.g. the big houses, at the cross-roads, at fairs and festivals, and dancing them in pubs and bars would also not have been unusual. And they were danced because people WANTED to dance them--just like today.

The sets therefore have a far longer lineage than the so-called ceilí dances. But in the late 1800s they were deemed to be 'foreign' by those with a political agenda and therefore to be replaced but by what? The idea of a ceilí was poached from the Scots. Gaelic League secretary Fionan Mac Colum had been to a Scottish ceilí in London and was highly impressed. He also observed that the dances at the Scottish evening bore a remarkable resemblance to the irish dances which were being taught at that time by Professor P.D. Reidy. From Castleisland in Co. Kerry, Reidy became 'professor' of Irish dancing to the Gaelic League in London.

Celtic Relations

Considerable relationships are noted between Irishband Scottish dancing. According to John P. Cullinane in his book Aspects of the History of Irish Dancing, two of the dances performed at the Scottish evening had Irish titles 'Rory O Móre' and 'The Priest in His Boots' (or 'and His Books'). Mac Colum reported back to his Gaelic League colleagues who set about organising a ceilí for the Gaelic festival of Shamhann (Halloween) in 1897. Mac Colum, who was Fear an Tí (master of ceremonies), organised the programme of music and dance, permitting nothing that would smack of stage Irish.

Planning

Knowing well the exuberance of the Irish at the St. Patrick's night dances in Holborn Town Hall, the ceilí organisers were determined that the occasion would be a respectable and orderly one. Only those associated with the Gaelic League, or who had received an invitation, were allowed in. In keeping the Gaelic tradition, a piper lead the proceedings. So the services of Tomás O Garracháin were enlisted. Professor Garoghan, as he called himself, had in his time played for O’Donovan Rossa and Charles Kickham. So the first ceilí dancers took to the floor to a selection by Professor Garoghan. According to the programme he played 'Eoghal' (Youghal) and 'An Londubh' (The Blackbird), along with 'Airgead an tSean Mhná' (The Old Woman’s Money) and 'Planxty Stafford' among other tunes. Dr. Annie Patterson from Cork City was the accompanist on the piano. Garoghan, who was born in Birmingham and spoke fluent Irish, said that in his youth both Birmingham and London were full of pipers.

Scottish singers and dancers as well as Welsh singers also performed at the first ceilí, giving their services free "although they were famous artists in London," according to Fionan Mac Colum. The ceilí organisers adopted the Scottish programme complete with tea and cakes at the interval.

Figure 1.--Most historians agree that most modern figurecand step dancing and especially the fancy dreeses and kilts worn by the girls and boys have been largely invented in the modern era.

Figure Dancing

Some believed that figure dancing had not yet developed. According to Mac Colum, Irish figure dancing, or formation dancing, had not arrived on the scene because at that time those dances were known to only a small number of people. Sets, quadrilles and waltzes to Irish music were enjoyed by the large audience. However such dances were soon to be outlawed, leading to yet another split in the Gaelic revival, one that hasn’t yet been healed.

Very quickly a number of the so-called ceilí dances were 'invented' most with dubious authenticity and defined to be Irish. Perhaps they were in a technical sense but the figures used came from the then folk dance traditions of England, Ireland, Scotland and Europe - these being squares, longways sets, circles, double circles (Sicilian Circles), and lines facing lines!! And they were taught to the youngsters of the time with the strictest of discipline and certainly none of the fun which characterised the sets.

Step Dancing

It was hardly the intention of the Gaelic League that their efforts should, in a roundabout way, lead to the creation of 'Riverdance.' In 1931 the League established An Coimisiún le Rinncí Gaelacha (The Irish Dancing Commission) which fostered step dancing in its purist and sanitised form and regulated competitions in Ireland and abroad, still beloved of little girls in highly embroidered pseudo-Celtic dresses as well as boys in their kilts. It was from the prize winning ranks of these competitions that most of the cast of the showbiz extravaganza and its spawns was drawn. But at least as a conscious (or subconscious?) innovation the shows' producers have put the flirting, flamboyance and provocative nature back into the performances!!
So too have the sets enjoyed a huge revival throughout the many Irish communities around the world, and even the ceilí dances are being revived by enthusiasts - and at long last - are being danced for their own sakes even in pubs and bars!!

Sources

Irish Music, vol. 2. no. 8. April 1997.

John Cullinane, Aspects of the History of Irish Dancing.

Created: December 27, 1998
Updated: December 20, 1999