Ancient History of Irish Dance
The first dance in Ireland is thought to be from the Druids and their pagan beliefs. These dances included tree worship dances, animal dances, work dances, war dances, courtship dances and some dances just for fun. My own thought is these dances were performed in a group and not solo.
The history of Irish dance has been shaped over the centuries by the many invasions of Ireland. Each invader brought their cultural contribution to modern Irish dance.
Music usually was accompanied by dancing. Music is thought to have arrived about 1600 BC with the Tuatha De Danann. They came from an area around the River Elbe in Germany. In 1300 BC during the reign of a De Danann king named Ollam Fodhla the first great feis was held at Tara called Feis Teamhair (House of Music).
The Celts came with their language and culture about 500 BC. For a little over 900 years they were a heavy influence on Irish culture. The coming of Saint Patrick (AD 432) and Christianity changed all that. Saint Patrick converted the pagan Celts to Christianity by combining pagan beliefs and symbols with Catholic beliefs. The Christians did he same with the pagan dance trying to make it more civilized, but the basic pagan movement remained.
When the Vikings began to invade in AD 795 they destroyed many of the Celts written records, including any history of Irish dance. The Feisianna (Feis) a festival of trade, politics and culture survived and was carried on by the newly combined culture of the Celts and Vikings. The Feisianna evolved into a place of art, music, dance, and sporting events. The Celts may have lost their written records to the Vikings, but dance was still handed down from generation to generation by tradition. Today Feis are music and dance competitions that still have art, crafts and trade.
The Norman invasion (1169-1172) brought the round dance to Ireland. This was an important event in the history of Irish dance. At this time in the twelfth century the round dance was very popular with the French nobility in Normandy. The Irish really took to this type of dancing. It's still very popular in Ireland today.
In the fifteenth century the Normans brought caroling to the island. Caroling was a mixture of singing and dancing. It was still being performed late into the twentieth century in parts of Wexford. This was another way to carry on the dance traditions.