From Crossroads to Hearthstones: The Spatial Ecology of Irish Dance in the Colonial Period

This paper explores how environmental conditions, local infrastructure, and community networks shaped Irish dance performances during the colonial era. At this time, Irish was the spoken tongue and most people in rural Ireland lived agrarian lives. They depended on informal communal settings for singing, dancing, and music- making. During the spring and summer months, native dance events typically took place outdoors. Initially, dancers gathered in open fields, where they danced on the grass. However, as the eighteenth century progressed, they progressed to the newly formed crossroads. There, the Irish dancers performed on hard dirt to the tunes of local musicians; it contributed to the preservation and circulation of regional dance repertoires. During winter, dancers gathered inside "rambling houses." These were the homesteads of wealthier farmers and they accommodated evening gatherings after a day’s labour. Within these spaces, the household hearth was the primary stage, with dancers performing on surrounding flagstones. Dancers also used tables, half doors, and even the anvils in local forges as makeshift stages. Participants who danced on small surfaces using the blacksmith’s anvil received high praise.

Sharon Phelan lectures in Dance and Cultural Theory at graduate and post-graduate levels in the Munster Technological University, Ireland. She has also danced professionally with Siamsa Tíre, the National Folk Theatre of Ireland, worked as National Facilitator in Dance with the Department of Education and she was Artistic Director of the Ionad Culturtha in Ballyvourney, County Cork. Sharon has delivered and published internationally on dance for over twenty-five years. Current areas of interest include, a book based on regionalised dance performance and the setting up of a dance theatre for inclusive dance and the use of distance learning in the teaching of dance in third level. Recently, she authored the first formal programme in traditional performing arts with the Department of Education and is currently facilitating its use in second level schools nationally.