Contra dance is a form of folk dancing made up of long lines of couples. It has mixed origins from English country dance, Scottish country dance, and French dance styles in the 17th century. Sometimes described as New England folk dance or Appalachian folk dance, contra dances can be found around the world, but are most common in the United States, Canada, and other Anglophone countries.
The jig is a form of lively folk dance in compound metre, as well as the accompanying dance tune. It first gained popularity in 16th-century England, Ireland, Scotland, and other parts of the British Isles, and was adopted on mainland Europe where it eventually became the final movement of the mature Baroque dance suite. Today it is most associated with Irish dance music, Scottish country dance and the Métis people in Canada. Jigs were originally in quadruple compound metre,, but have been adapted to a variety of time signatures, by which they are often classified into groups, including double jigs, slip jigs and single jigs.
Irish dance refers to a group of traditional dance forms that originate in Ireland, encompassing dancing both solo and in groups, and dancing for social, competitive, and performance purposes. Irish dance in its current form developed from various influences such as earlier native Irish dance, English country dancing and later possibly French quadrilles, as it became popular in Britain and Ireland during the 19th century. Dance was taught by "travelling dance masters" across Ireland in the 17th and 18th centuries, and separate dance forms developed according to regional practice and differing purposes. Irish dance became a significant part of Irish culture, particularly for Irish nationalist movements. From the early 20th century, a number of organisations promoted and codified the various forms of dance, creating competitive structures and standardised styles. Irish dancers who compete for competitive reasons dance in a dance style that is more modern than traditional Irish dance. It is mainly done solo, but there is some team dancing in groups of 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 16 and even numbers onwards.
The Quiet Man is a 1952 American romantic comedy-drama film directed and produced by John Ford, and starring John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Victor McLaglen, Barry Fitzgerald, and Ward Bond. The screenplay by Frank S. Nugent was based on a 1933 Saturday Evening Post short story of the same name by Irish author Maurice Walsh, later published as part of a collection titled The Green Rushes. The film features Winton Hoch's lush photography of the Irish countryside and a long, climactic, semi-comic fist fight.
Country–western dance encompasses any of the dance forms or styles which are typically danced to country-western music, and which are stylistically associated with American country and/or western traditions. Many are descended from dances brought to the United States by immigrants from the United Kingdom and Europe as early as the 1700s, which became integrated into American popular culture. Country dancing is also known as "kicker dancing" in Texas.
A cèilidh or céilí is a traditional Scottish and Irish social gathering. In its most basic form, it simply means a social visit. In contemporary usage, it usually involves dancing and playing Gaelic folk music, either at a home or a larger concert at a social hall or other community gathering place.
Irish set dancing, sometimes called "Irish sets", is a popular form of folk dancing in Ireland danced to Irish tunes in groups of eight or four dancers. It is also sometime named set dance, but this name refers more often to a kind of dance in Irish stepdance.
Gort is a town of around 2,000 inhabitants in County Galway in the west of Ireland. Located near the border with County Clare, the town lies between the Burren and the Slieve Aughty and is served by the R458 and R460 regional roads, which connect to the M18 motorway.
Here Northumbria is defined as Northumberland, the northernmost county of England, and County Durham. According to 'World Music: The Rough Guide', "nowhere is the English living tradition more in evidence than the border lands of Northumbria, the one part of England to rival the counties of the west of Ireland for a rich unbroken tradition. The region is particularly noted for its tradition of border ballads, the Northumbrian smallpipes and also a strong fiddle tradition in the region that was already well established in the 1690s. Northumbrian music is characterised by considerable influence from other regions, particularly southern Scotland and other parts of the north of England, as well as Irish immigrants.
A regional road in the Republic of Ireland is a class of road not forming a major route, but nevertheless forming a link in the national route network. There are over 11,600 kilometres of regional roads. Regional roads are numbered with three-digit route numbers, prefixed by "R". The equivalent road category in Northern Ireland are B roads.
The Clare Lancers Set is one of the most popular dances in the Irish Set Dancing repertoire. As the name suggests it hails from the Clare area on the mid-west coast of the Republic of Ireland. Other published instructions for this dance include Larry Lynch's Set Dances of Ireland, Terry Moylan's Irish Dances, Pat Murphy's Toss the Feathers and Tom Quinn's Irish Dancing. Joe O'Hara and the Newcastle Irish Set Dancers have versions this set online.
The Irish flute is a conical-bore, simple-system wooden flute of the type favoured by classical flautists of the early 19th century, or to a flute of modern manufacture derived from this design. The majority of traditional Irish flute players use a wooden, simple-system flute.
Sweeney's Men is an album by Sweeney's Men, recorded in early 1968 after 'Galway Joe' Dolan had left the band and been replaced by Terry Woods.
The 46th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1741. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 32nd (Cornwall) Regiment of Foot to form the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry in 1881, becoming the 2nd Battalion of the new regiment.
Irish traditional music is a genre of folk music that developed in Ireland.
32A is a 2007 Irish drama film directed and written by Marian Quinn. It was shot principally in Dublin, with additional footage in Roscommon and Sligo.
Thomas de Clare, Lord of Thomond was an Anglo-Norman peer and soldier. He was the second son of Richard de Clare, 6th Earl of Gloucester and his wife Maud de Lacy, Countess of Gloucester. In 1272 he served a term as Lieutenant of the Duchy of Aquitaine. On 26 January 1276 he was granted the Lordship of Thomond by Edward I of England; he spent the next eight years attempting to conquer it from the O'Brien dynasty, kings of Thomond.
The Tulla Céilí Band is an Irish céilí band.
