Remarks on his visit to the Comhdháil World Irish Dance Championships
Citywest Hotel, Dublin, 3rd April 2012
A Chairde,
This is my first opportunity as President to attend the Comhdháil World Irish Dance Championships and I am very grateful to you for your kind invitation agus don fhíorchaoin fáilte a chur sibh romham inniu.
For the last 40 years, An Chomhdháil has done tremendous work for Irish dancing, recognising its important role both at home and abroad. For you the world championships this week is a culmination of so much hard work - from those of you involved in organising this great event to those of you who have been preparing for competitions.
Irish people throughout the world are proud to come from a culture that is so rich and diverse. The very steps that you dance belong to a folk tradition which has evolved and absorbed different cultures down through centuries. It is the very adaptability of Irish dancing that has allowed it to become so popular and enjoyable today and in so many parts of the world. In fact it is because of the rich tapestry of our culture - our theatre, our poets, writers, song, Gaelic Games, language and dance established the best of our reputation – that we in Ireland became and remain known in so much of the world. And what is most satisfying for me as President and as a former Minister for Culture and for the Arts is that notwithstanding the many challenges we face in Ireland now, the expression of our culture through these and other activities continue to earn for us much deserved respect and recognition, constitutes an Irishness that has earned and retained respect.
When the Gaelic League was founded at the end of the 19th Century (1893) to preserve and strengthen the Irish language, it also sought to promote other aspects of Irish culture, namely the organisation of Irish dancing classes and competitions.
In ‘digging the well’ Irish dancing in the formative years of the 20th century was recognised for having an important place within Irish culture, leading to the establishment of An Coimisiún le Rincí Gaelacha in the early days of our fledgling State in 1929. We witnessed the popularity of Irish dancing growing not just here in Ireland, but all over the world.
Dr John Cullinane has written widely of the history of Irish dance and I refer today to his work which has been so helpful in setting out the rich contribution of Irish migrants to this tradition.
Dr Cullinane tells us that the intricate dances we have seen today, the reels, jigs, slip jigs, and solo set dances for instance, originate from the travelling dance masters who travelled across Ireland in the early 18th century. A travelling dance master by the name of Moore in 1820 was responsible for teaching Ned Batt Walsh, who in turn taught one of the great Kerry travelling dance masters, Jerry Molyneaux who died in 1973. Many of Molyneaux’s former pupils had emigrated to the US, so many contemporary teachers and their pupils across the US can trace their lineage back now almost two centuries to Moore, the first great Kerry dance master. Today, as some of you are surely aware, some 50,000 pupils study Irish dancing in North America, and over 2,000 of these participate in the North America Championships.
I’ve only mentioned men in the early history of Irish dance teaching, as it seems the original dance masters – or those who’s names history has recorded, were largely men, and it is not until the 1930’s that we see the rise of women in the profession: among the earliest of these, according to Dr Cullinane, were Lily Comerford and Essie Connolly of Dublin. Indeed it was Lily Comerford who introduced the innovation of the lighter weight kilt into dancing as the standard costume.
Irish migrants have continually informed and shaped the Irish dance as we know it and perform it today. Irish dance has also informed the development of other dance genres across the world. As early as 1789 John Durang, and Irish American dance master from Philadelphia, performed clog dances, jigs and reels with an African American twist. This caught on and contributed to the popular minstrel dances. American Tap, jazz, and stage dancing have also been strongly influenced by Irish dance.
More recently, the contrast between faster paced Cork and Kerry style of dance verses the slower rhythm of Northern Irish styles has led to further innovation in the world of Irish dance. The metronome was introduced to resolve the conflict at the 1959 Irish Dancing Teachers Commission of America. Two different metronomic speeds were agreed for the reel, jig and hornpipe, and today metronomic speeds are used the world over in Irish and other major dancing events.
Today, Comhdháil as part of that proud tradition and through its network of
24 branches - from Sydney to San Francisco and many points in between - have helped instil a love of our Irish dance in hundreds of thousands of children. As President,
I commend you in this work.
We might ask ourselves the question why this aspect of our culture is so well known and enjoyed and part of the answer has to be because for many generations our people have searched out and made new homelands on every continent. As a consequence we have some 70 million people who claim Irish heritage living in many parts of the world today.
As they travelled to search out new opportunities in foreign lands, it was perhaps inevitable that they would also strive to retain their own sense of identity and tradition and to pass a love of culture to their children and grandchildren. As some of you may know, I sought to give practical expression to the importance of the Irish community living in so many places throughout the world, and to give a voice to that community, and so one of my first decisions on coming into office was to appoint Ms Sally Mulready, a hard-working ambassador for the vulnerable Irish living in Britain, to the Council of State.
Today there are many opportunities to watch and enjoy Irish dancing. It is still a regular part of social functions. Ceili sessions are often preceded by an impromptu teaching period where more accomplished dancers show people new to the art the initial few steps. Visitors to Ireland are always welcome to join in and with on the spot, informal instruction, anyone can quickly master the first steps and soon share the Irish enthusiasm for Irish dance. No amount of advertising can replace the goodwill that those visitors bring home with them and share with their friends. It’s part of the great Irish fáilte which is so important in our culture, our sense of self, our sense of being Irish, and which we take with us wherever we travel.
To the casual observer, the demands involved in hosting An Comhdhail World Irish Dance Championships can only be imagined. Certainly without the genuine love of their art, as well as the often unsung support of their parents and families, the benchmark of excellence witnessed here in Citywest just could not be achieved. The many hours, days and weeks of effort put in by teachers, choreographers, dress makers and organisers is remarkable. I applaud all of you for your efforts and hope that they will be rewarded, not only this week, but in your lives ahead.
Go n-éirí go geal libh ‘s go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir.