The beginnings of ceili dancing: London in the 1890s / Nicholas Carolan

Ceili dances are traditional Irish group figure dances of various types which range in complexity from the simple 'Siege of Ennis' or Walls of Limerick' through the 'Haymakers' Jig' to the complicated 'Sixteen-Hand Reel' or 'High Caul Cap', and they can be performed by hundreds of people at a time. But ceili dancing only rose to prominence in the early twentieth century. This paper looks at its beginnings, which is a story belonging to the decade of the 1890s and, what may be surprising, to the city of London.