Historical reflections on Irish dancing
In the second of a two part series JOHN EGAN continues with the history of Irish dancing.
No-one denies the significant but immeasurable impact of that first televised Flatley and Butler performance on the perception of Irish dancing worldwide and on the exponential growth in numbers of dancers who have since taken it up as their favourite activity or even as a way of life.
Subsequently I decided once again to seek out literature on the topic. Library searches were disappointingly unfruitful, but the first most significant signpost for me came in the form of an introductory article in the programme for the Great Britain Championships in the late ’90s, compiled by Seán Hennigan, chairman of the Southern Regional Council (England), outlining the history of Irish dancing in the London area from the late 19th century to the present time.
This pointed me in the direction of the various published works of Corkman, Dr John Cullinane, Irish dance historian and vice-chairman of the Commission.
Yes, Flatley and Butler may have provided the biggest impact in modern times on the popularity of Irish dancing, but it is arguable that the most profound influences on its nurture and direction derives from two events that took place about 100 years earlier, namely, (a) the establishment of the Gaelic League in Dublin in 1893 and (b) the very first céilí held — not in Ireland — but in London’s Bloomsbury Hall, organised by the Gaelic League’s London branch in 1897.
The events that flowed from this first ever céilí were to have profound implications in Ireland itself for the collection and categorisation of what were to be regarded by the Gaelic League as ‘real’ Irish dances as opposed to ‘foreign dances’.
The League was soon to develop a major role of organising, regulating and promoting Irish dancing competitions, and eventually approving those whom they deemed eligible to teach or adjudicate.
The term ‘feis’ and ‘oireachtas’ were introduced to denote local and national events. It is true that the Gaelic League introduced the notion of competition into feiseanna and oireachtaisí over 100 years ago and to this day competition remains the main driving force of Irish dancing.
The Gaelic League gave birth to its offspring, the Commission, after a seven-year gestation period (1924-1930) which took place in a spirit of co-operation between the League and the dance teachers associations. The birth however, was not without its labour pains and also had delayed post-natal complications.
In its early years the Cork dance teachers as a body were not prepared to join a Dublin-based organisation that would regulate competitions in Cork and levy registration fees on the local organisers, as well as introducing what they regarded as restrictive practices, similar to that of the GAA ban on participation in, or attendance at ‘foreign’ games by its members.
They saw the Commission as an unrepresentative body, top heavy with Gaelic Leaguers, with just three dance teacher representatives and these were all from Dublin. The Cork teachers, who had the longest-established association in the country (since 1895) were understandably aggrieved and for a time went their own way.
With compromise and flexibility on both sides however, they joined the Commission’s fold over a period of years after its foundation. A more recent and longer-lasting ‘schism’ between the Commission and a section of Irish dance teachers took place in the 1960s when an amalgamation of various local teacher associations formed its own national body called Comhdháil na Múinteoirí agus Moltóirí Rincí Gaelacha, usually abbreviated to An Comhdháil, and meaning Congress of Irish Dance Teachers and Adjudicators. I have little or no information on the reasons why this split occurred but I suspect there were reasons that might resonate with the former Cork Teachers Association.
Since the late 1967 the Commission changed from being just a national body to becoming an international body when it conducted its first exams and registered its first teachers in England and America. Australia was soon to follow in 1969. Other overseas countries followed and with increased ease of travel the global interest gave rise to the fantastic success story that is the World Irish Dancing Championships.
From about the same time, following some teacher dissatisfaction, there has been an increase in the numbers of teachers from Ireland and from overseas serving on An Coimisiún. This reflects the changing global nature of the teacher composition.
The original imbalance of teacher and Gaelic League members that existed in the 1930s has largely been addressed. In the year 2000, 93 per cent of all members of An Coimisiún were actually qualified teachers.
Over 70 years after its foundation, An Coimisiún still remains under the patronage of the Gaelic League. The World Championships, All Ireland Championships, Regional Championships, examinations and registration system aimed at maintaining high standards, are a monument to the success of the Gaelic League and to its foresight in establishing An Coimisiún. It is also worthy of special note that Tomás Ó Faircheallaigh, current president of An Coimisiún, was one of its founding members in 1930 and is still going strong after more than 70 years unbroken service.
I believe that this is unique in any national organisation in the world. I had the privilege of holding a lengthy conversation in Irish when I had a chance meeting with him in Belfast at the World Championships in 2000.
I hope to meet him again next year when he becomes a centenarian, and I’m sure that he will be as kind to my rusty Irish as he was in Belfast.
I am grateful to Dr John Cullinane for the factual information in his various publications on which I largely drew for the history of An Coimisiún, and also for the use of photographs from the Cullinane Archive Collection. It is important that the reader should be aware that any error in the interpretation of the historical facts are due to myself, the author of this article. I would commend the reader who is interested in any aspect of Irish dancing to refer to the publications of Dr John P Cullinane, who can be contacted directly on Tel/Fax: 00 353 21 431 4094.)
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