Irish Dance History
While there is no record in ancient Irish literature of the development of dance, it is difficult to believe that a race such as the ancient Irish, well known for their love of music, never danced. The absence in Ireland of such dances, as practised by the British and continental Celts who shared similar cultures to the Irish at that time, would be remarkable. It would also be strange if a people with a native taste for music, as it evident by the great number of musical instruments they possessed, had no knowledge of dancing, as dancing normally preceded music. We must presume that the development of man in Ireland was no different than the development of the human race around the world. In every stage of man’s development, from a primitive savage hunting and gathering food as he wandered through cast forests, to his present mechanically aided multimedia, Internet, email and digital existence, he has performed dance. In earlier times the dances were simple, but as he learnt to control his environment by different work techniques, he changed the conditions in which he lived. His dances became more complicated. To trace the evolution of dance accurately is impossible, as different parts of the world have gone though various stages of development at different times. In Ireland we have quite good evidence of this development from approximately 3000BC thanks to the Neolithic burial chambers (passage graves) in the Boyne Valley, Newgrangem Knowth, and Dowth in County Meath, and that the great archaeological work carried out in recent times. The different types of dance performed in ancient times would have been tree worship dances, animal dances, work dances, war dances, courtship dances and recreational dances. The first music is said to have been brought to Ireland around 1600 BC by the Tuatha De Danann (meaning skilled workers) who were believed to have come from the region surrounding the River Elbe in Germany. They were fair-haired, very energetic and, according to tradition, a very cultured people. It was from a De Danann queen, named Erin that Ireland derived one of its names. In 1300 BC when Ollam Fodhla was king, the first great feis was held at Tara called Feis Teamhair, meaning House of Music. The Celts, or Keltoi, came to Ireland, approximately 500BC. Their language and culture was firmly established by the early Christian era. With the Christianisation of Ireland and the coming of Saint Patrick (approximately AD 431) successful attempts were made to put a Christian image to the pagan dances and rituals, but the basic pagan movement was maintained. The first small Viking raids on Ireland occurred in AD 795 and the raids continued until the ninth century by which time the Viking settlers had substantially influenced Irish culture. The invaders were mainly Norwegian in origin and were known as the Fgingaill (the fair foreigners). By the middle of the ninth century a population group known as the Gall-Gaidil (Norse –Irish) was identified. Settlement, intermarriage and the sharing of each other’s way of life encouraged cultural and linguistic assimilation. In reality their involvement with Ireland lasted almost 400 years and their influence is felt to this day. Following the Anglo-Norman invasion (1169-72), the Norman’s are given credit for having introduced round dances to Ireland in the twelfth century. The round dances had become a favourite pastime of the French nobility and about the time of the Norman invasion of Ireland these dances were very popular in Normandy There can be little doubt that these dances were performed in the Norman strongholds and towns in Ireland. When the mayor of Waterford visited O’Driscoll of Baltimore in 1413, carolling is said to have taken place. Carolling was a mixture of singing and dancing which was popular with the Normans at that time and was still being performed well into the late twentieth century in some parts of Wexford. In 1443, 2,700 people participated in the first great Festival of Arts, which was held on 26th Match at Kelleigh and included music, dance and poetry. In sixteenth and seventeenth century Anglo-Irish and English literature we find several references to Irish dances. The dances in question were usually called roundelays, heys, trenchmores, jigs and rince fada. In a 1549 Scottish publication, ‘Complainte of Scotland’, there is reference to the ring dance of Scotland being very similar to the rince fada or field dance of the Irish. In Grattan Flood’s book, History of Irish Music (1905), there is reference to a letter sent to Queen Elizabeth I written by Sir Henry Sidney in 1569, in which he writes about the ladies of Galway dancing Irish jigs and said them to be magnificently dressed, very beautiful and first-class dancers. It is most probable that the jigs referred to were group jigs and not solo jigs, as the solo dancing did not appear until much later.