The History of Irish Dance.

Two thousand years ago, the Celts arrived in Ireland from central Europe and brought with them their own folk dances.   The Anglo-Norman conquest in the twelfth century brought Norman customs and culture to Ireland. The Carol was a popular Norman dance in which the leader sang and was surrounded by a circle of dancers who replied with the same song. This Norman dance was performed in conquered Irish towns.

 Some dances were danced  in two straight lines which suggests they were performing an early version of the long dance. During the mid sixteenth century, dances were performed in the great halls of the newly built castles. Some of the dances were adapted by the sixteenth century English invaders and brought to the court of Queen Elizabeth. One of these dances was the Trenchmore, which was an adaptation of an old Irish peasant dance. From this time period onward another style of dance called the Hey was popular,the original version of the Irish Dance the Reel.  

 When royalty arrived in Ireland, they were greeted by young women performing native dances. When King James landed at Kinsale, County Cork, in 1780, he was welcomed by dancers. There were three of these dancers, each holding the ends of white handkerchiefs. They advanced to slow music and were followed by dancing couples, each couple holding a handkerchief between them. The tempo of the music increased and the dancers performed a variety of lively figures.

Irish dancing was accompanied by music played on the bagpipes and the harp. In the houses of the Anglo-Irish aristocracy, the master often joined with servants in some of the dances. Dancing was also performed during wakes. The mourners followed each other in a ring around the coffin to bagpipe music.