The last month...

This is my last post, until my next visit...

Since the last post, on November 3, Thanksgiving has come and gone; Alan and friends from our town here completed our great 11 day stint in Smithfield, Dublin;  I went to Donegal on my own; my class at Ivy Tech has concluded; and -- most momentously -- Alan and I are united again in in the USA.

The last month was both stressful and fun. The stress was mainly from moving from the small bedroom I had in far South County Dublin to the great two-bedroom apartment is Smithfield D7, right in the heart of things in the 'Centre City'. The fun was having such a great place to be during the visits from Alan and our friends that I'd been anticipating since arriving in Dublin back in August. All the revelry with company meant I didn't go to the last two weeks of set dance, but I'd resigned myself to that earlier so it wasn't too much of an issue for me.

I learned so much about set dance during the time I was in Ireland and I had the chance to go to three celli dances held at the local GAA clubs.  The latter is where you really learn, you go every weekend and hundreds of others form and reform sets for an evening of dance from 9 p.m. to after 1 a.m.  I also made a new friend as a result.

I also learned so much more about the conditions under which my next visit should occur. As long as I'm healthy, I expect to do long stints in Dublin when I can.  I laid the groundwork for that this time and hope there's some way of making it happen.  Cracking the accommodation nut, that's the key.  Dublin, especially with Brexit, is preparing for a pretty critical housing shortage in the short term. They have really just come out of  'austerity' required by the EU to pay back what it borrowed during the 2008 downtown, but they've come out in a very good position.  It was a pleasure to see, even if it means it's harder for me to find a place to stay.

I also learned some new, interesting things about my 'Dignam' side, including the dates and exact places of birth for both my grandmother and grandfather. A chance meeting at a convention for seniors where there was a booth for genealogy. Who would have thought that a woman with the original derivation of my last name Duignan should be at the booth doing research on 'this small family' of the midlands.  She's been amazingly detailed. It's interesting.

On my mother's side, the Gallaghers of Inver, Donegal are more familiar, despite the fact that the phenomenon of so many people with the same last name in once place was found Donegal in the Guinness Book of World Records one year. Still, our family friend -- and distant cousin, brought me to someone she thought would know something about the many sons of James and Rose (Sweeney) Gallagher.  He didn't, but it was a pleasant evening with Eamonn Monaghan, during which he told stories about Patrick Pierce, Seumas MacMannus and other republicans of the turn of the century.  Both Pierce, the Irish leader critically important in the fight for freedom fighter for Ireland and MacMannus, the renowned Donegal poet, spoke in Donegal during the early 1900's, That was a surprise to our local relations. His house was the Donegal cottage of old that will likely be listed an historic place very soon. The floor was made of granite from the quarry next door, including an old headstone.

It was good to end my trip on such a nice visit to Donegal. Although I was alone again after such fun at the end in Dublin, I enjoyed seeing my family and visiting my mother's grave before I left Ireland. I spent the last night in the airport hotel, which wouldn't have been worth a mention, except that the electricity went out at midnight and didn't return till the morning. I thought it was a sign. Homecoming was nice though, as seen in the picture with Lola. It was good Alan and I had the hour from the airport in the car, because Lola definitely remembered me.

Two Dances from County Clare

This week and last we devoted our time to dances from County Clare, in the west of Ireland, highlighted on the top map.

To give you a little orientation, I've added the second map that shows the counties by province. On it you can see Dublin is the smaller county all the way to the east in the province of Leinster.  My father's family came from Westmeath, also in Leinster west of Dublin. Donegal is the big county with the long border with Northern Ireland (in pink) to its east, in the province of Ulster. My mother's family is found near the apex of the triangular bay in south Donegal.

Clare is in Munster, a province that I haven't traveled in too much, although I've been to the both of the larger cities there, Cork and Limerick.  It's ironic because most people that visit Ireland go to Munster, visiting the Ring of Kerry an area that I did only once on a too long bus trip that I wouldn't recommend.

But, back to Clare for the sets we covered this and last week.  First was the Caledonian, a pretty fancy (but clear) rendition of the fifth and final figure in that set is here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sl0EP4kYdXA .

The second set was The Clare Lancers.  This was a fun one that wasn't too hard to learn and dance.  Here's the 4th figure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ih5M-ge60c

I searched and searched for some history about both dances and couldn't find a thing about how they evolved or why they were named.  The 'Lancers' makes some sense because you can see some military-like formations, but association of The Caledonian is not clear. "Caledonia" is the traditional name for Scotland as "Hibernia" is Ireland.  It seems to have something to do with the high kings in Celtic mythology.

I'm in my last month here.  Alan will come for Thanksgiving and his birthday on November 23 (Thanksgiving day) to November 30.  I've booked a nice two-bedroom apartment for us and friends from Bloomington who will also be here for the week.  We were planning a large Thanksgiving dinner, but that plan has fallen through because ill health of friends and family members of several of the families invited. Such is life.  I will be sad to leave, but happy to see my friends (especially in Atlanta),  the dog and our house.  Why can't I transport all of that here?

Maggie in the Wood

This week we covered the Connemara Set.  It's a set with four figures the last of which is danced to the tune "Maggie in the Wood."  See the videos of the four figures at this link: https://danceminder.com/dance/show/connre

The dance is a fun and easy one, but it's the tune that is played in the fourth Figure that was really resonant to me. As I danced, I was brought back to the times my father played the tune, and many others, on his melodeon in our living room on Long Island. Those times are among my happiest childhood memories. Here's a link to a man (much like my father) playing that tune on the instrument:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3k2ffeSGiGY

My parents met at an Irish dance held in Long Island City, in Queens New York in the mid 1930's.  Queens continues to be a vibrant area for Irish newcomers, although Woodside as overtaken the now gentrified, Long Island City as the Irish immigrant beacon.  Many of the houses look and feel like terraced houses, so ubiquitous throughout the bigger cities and towns in Ireland.

My father played the melodeon in an Irish band in pubs and house parties throughout Queens. My mother was a dancer and knew all the good dance bands in the area.  They had a lot in common then. My mother told me that they were the 'hottest' couple in Queens at the time. I believe it. She was a good dancer and, even years later when I came on the scene, and their passion for one another was long gone, he could still entertain on the melodeon.

While here in Ireland, I've often been struck with what seems like deja vu, a strong feeling that I've experienced some turn of phrase, food, accommodation, scent or entertainment before. It's because my parents, and their families, particularly the paternal matriarch, Aunt Lilly, kept to their Irish ways throughout our assimilation as Americans. It is in my DNA to be comfortable here as nowhere else I've lived.

I try hard not to be 'more Irish than the Irish' here, a condition that many Americans project when they visit Ireland. It's so embarrassing when I see it, and it's encountered often. My dance teacher told me that he was told by an American at a dance that he was 'doing it wrong,' he wasn't amused.  This is an evolving, modern country that is long passed the stereotyped brogue and leprechaun but the culture of dance and music endures and I will be sorry to leave it when I return to the USA in December. 

Barrow Walk

No post about set dance this week because both session were a recap of the three dances that we've already covered: the Ballyvourney, Slieve Luchra and Merchant. I expect we will have a new dance to learn in the upcoming week.


This is the midpoint of my visit to Ireland and I just can't believe how the time has flown by.  Last weekend I arranged a walk on the River Barrow with a group of friends that I've walked with many times during my stays here, although my dearest friend, Mary, was unable to make it. 

We set up base at The Clink Hotel in Carlow, https://www.theclinkboutiquehotel.com/ which couldn't have been better.  If you are ever anywhere near County Carlow in Carlowtown, this is the place to stay. The sleeping rooms and the meals were all perfect for the two long walks we did.  The Barrow Way is just a stone's throw from the hotel.  We arrived on Saturday morning and started our walk to Milford, where we were treated to a catered lunch provided by The Clink.  White table cloth, napkins, upholstered chairs and two staff served an amazing lunch for our group of 10.  We returned on the same path in reverse, for a total of 12 miles.

On Sunday we were provided a bag lunch and walked 19 kilometers to Athy, where the drivers in our group dropped their cars earlier that morning.  The whole thing was amazing, fun and very taxing.  I was so happy to have done the arranging and to have everything come off so well.

Merchant Set

This week we learned the Merchant Set a relatively new dance developed in Dublin, a city not otherwise known for sets.  It's a modern set, created in 2011, a testament to the resurgence of set dance in Ireland.  It was named for a pub in the City Center by Pádraig & Róisín McEneany (Patrick and Roseann) who taught at that pub for many years.  Ironically, as my set dance teacher informed us this week, shortly after it was completed, the pub discontinued set dance as a regular feature on Mondays. Here is a link to the written instructions for the dance: https://danceminder.com/dance/show/mercha  .  If you look at the instructions you can see some of the commonalities in all set dance:  'advance/retire' 'house' and 'swing' are found in almost every set.  This is what makes set dance fairly easy to learn.  While it's always fast, the steps endure.

Since this is a Dublin set, I've been musing on why this city so appeals to me. My first trip to Dublin was in 1967 and still remember the feeling of romance and history I felt then. Walking across the Liffey River over the O'Connell bridge when I was 19 is so vivid to me even 50 years later. To top it off, I met an Irish boy who was attracted to my youth and American accent and we spent the day walking around Dublin with him showing me the sights.  It turned out he was a train conductor and was able to tell me how to get to my father's home town (Moate, Co. Westmeath) on the train and the hotel to stay in while I was there. Years later, I'm sorry I didn't note his name, he's probably still living in Dublin and we could have kept in touch.

As I said in my first post of this visit, one of the great things about Ireland is the friendliness and curiosity of the people and, even with the smallest effort, one can make fast friends as I have.  Upcoming tomorrow is a little trip south to Carlow with a group of 10 of them.  We will stay overnight in a hotel and walk in two directions on the River Barrow. http://riverbarrow.net/barrow-way.html

We will walk south to Milford on Saturday and north to Athy on Sunday.  I've arranged the hotel and the meals and I'm hoping all goes OK with it.  My friends are all very excited to do the trip, we hope there will be no rain.  The hotel actually is arranging the lunch and they will bring a table, linens, real silverware and chairs to the mill at the halfway point on both days. If you have seen the movie just out now, Victoria and Abdul, I'm thinking it will be akin to the scene in which Victoria decided to have lunch on the top of a mountain in Scotland, maybe a little less grand, but certainly more than I've ever experienced on any other walk here or elsewhere.  This is the kind of treatment we needed on the halfway point on the Bright Angel trail in The Grand Canyon!

Slive Luchra Set

Last week we learned the Slive Luchra Set which starts about 1:40 in on the video at this link:
https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?fr=yhs-mozilla-002&hsimp=yhs-002&hspart=mozilla&p=sLIVE+LUCHRA+set+dance#id=5&vid=2fdeb025ee8293cf6cdf0f3d7f8fe9dd&action=view

It looks complicated, but my friend Dorothy did this whole dance when she visited in 2013, and with the right music, anyone who gives it a try can do it.  As a reminder, sets are made up of 'figures' and there are usually 4-5 figures inn each set with a little break between each figure.  Once you get the basic steps, all the figures use pretty much the same ones. This dance lasts a while because you see the people forming, the break between each figure and, for the most part, the four couples in the group dance either in pairs or alone. 

Slive Luchra is a region in the provence of Munster spanning the Blackwater River flowing through Counties Cork, Kerry and Limerick.  It's an inhospitable area of upland bogs but, during the height of the English repression in Ireland became a refuge for native Irish and a place where their culture of dance and music flourished.  In reading the history of the area, I was struck with the similarities between this area and Accompong in Jamaica, an area that the British were unable to control that became home to the Maroons, the only free people in Jamaica during British rule and now a separate state within the country.  If you go there, the headman is proud to stamp your passport because you are no longer in the jurisdiction of the Jamaican government in Kingston. 

I am not a lawless person, but the idea of people being able the throw off the yoke of an unfair government is resonant to me.  I'm particularly inspired by people's efforts to ensure that their freedom and cultural heritage in the face of systematic oppression.

Ballyvourney Jig

All set dances are named for the region or town in Ireland where they developed.  The Ballyvourney Jig set is one of the most beloved dances and is the one that ends the evening in the classes taught by Pat O'Reilly, my teacher in Dublin. This is the set that Pat teaches at the beginning of each season and during our first class last Tuesday (September 12) he covered all five figures of the set. If you want to see the dance in its entirety, go here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Fa0h_ieKeU

Ballyvourney is a small town in County Cork. In Irish, the name means "Town of the Beloved" and it is the home of the medieval monastic site dedicated to St. Gobnait, the patron saint of bee keepers.

You can see the bees in the stained glass image surrounding St. Gobnait's head and neck. 

One of the things that first attracted me to take up set dance is the sense of place that each dance represents and the layers of engagement it provides. The physical challenge of the dance is apparent and needs no explanation but that just scratches the surface of its allure for me.  I, like most people that explore their ethnic dances, get great spiritual and emotional satisfaction in coming closer to my own history. This is something we all share, no matter what the dance heritage. People worldwide can identify with it.

When I first started dancing, early in 2012, I was embarrassed about my lack of cultural awareness. And I was intimidated by the speed and seeming complexity of the patterns and footwork involved in successfully performing the dance. I persevered because, even early on, there were moments when I knew I had it and was able to internalize the rhythm and form.  This kept me going. 

At my first class last week I had the added delight of seeing old friends.  Many of the dancers were people I knew when I was here earlier and it was a pleasure to see them again.  Although Pat doesn't like picture taking in his class, I was able to snap the photo below at the end of the evening. From left, Una and Noel started in our class in 2013 in preparation for the dance they would do at their wedding.  He is from Kerry and wanted to help Una learn their regional dance as a surprise for his friends and family. Now they are regulars and both dance beautifully. Geraldine was my partner that first night and also a member of our walking group.  It was a pleasant surprise for both of us to meet up there.  I can't wait for tomorrow night!