The Dancemasters of North Kerry

The National Folk Theatre is famous for its unique style of traditional Irish step dance.  This style known as North Kerry, or Munnix, is found nowhere else in Ireland.  We owe this rich tradition to Jeremiah Molyneaux, a travelling dance master who travelled around North Kerry, teaching young and old, in schools and private houses.


Jeremiah Molneaux dancing with Sheila Bowler (nee Lyons)

Jeremiah Molyneaux, known locally as Gerry Munnix was born in 1883 at Gunsboro in North Kerry. He was the youngest of a family of seven, four boys and three girls.  His mother was Ellen Scanlon, a dressmaker and his father was William Molyneaux, a blacksmith.





Ned Batt Walsh and his wife.

Munnix learned his dancing from Ned Batt Walsh.  Throughout his younger years he perfected his dancing and won the Munster dancing championship at 18 years of age.  He began teaching when he was 20 and held his first ever class in the kitchen of his own house.  From this time on Munnix travelled around North Kerry and West Limerick perfecting and teaching his unique style of dance until he was 70.  He taught many fine dancers in his time, people like Liam Tarrant, Jerry Nolan, John McCarthy, Jack Lyons, to name but a few.

Jack Lyons,  pictured in Teach Siamsa Finuge shortly after the building was completed.

Liam Tarrant dancing at the turning of the sod for Teach Siamsa in Carraig in 1974. Minutes after this photo was taken he suffered a heart attack and sadly passed away.

Jack Lyons and Liam Tarrant on tour with Siamsa in Dublin.

Jerry Nolan, Sean Ahern and John McCarthy outside the Palace Theatre in 1976.

Gerry Munnix died in Listowel when he was 83 years old.  He was buried in Gale cemetery and, as he had asked, his best pair of dancing shoes were buried with him.
In Siamsa Tíre we are very lucky to have access to recordings of many pupils of Munnix.  For the past thirty years we have been studying, perfecting and developing this unique style.  Some of the steps you see today on the stage in Siamsa Tíre date back to the beginning of the last century.



The Churn from Fadó Fadó show!

Many of these pupils formed part of Siamsa Tíre, back when the company was forming.  One of these, Liam Tarrant worked closely with Founding Director Fr. Pat Ahern to create the first ever piece performed in 1965.  Liam found an old butter churn in Galway and brought it to Kerry with him, Fr Pat then put a song and dance to the rhythm of the beating churn, and so was born the first ever scene, Amhrán na Cuiginne, a scene that still forms part of one of our summer shows, Fadó Fadó.



Irish Culture at the Crossroads - Prof. Muiris Ó Laoire

Prof. Ó Laoire in the Siamsa Tíre gallery

Culture night takes place this Friday (19th September) and as part of our 40th Anniversary programme we will be celebrating our native folk culture in music, song and workshops. We also have Prof Muiris Ó Laoire giving a talk which will  trace the evolution of Irish culture into the 21st century. 

Here are a few words from the man himself.

Analysing any culture is a complex undertaking and analysing Irish culture with its two languages is all the more complex. Questions will be raised in particular regarding our culture: its origin, contemporary transformations, future directions and its extricable links with languages.

The lecture will suggest possible answers to key questions like: What does it mean to be Irish today?  How can one get to the core of the rich tapestry that is Irish culture with its essential contradictions, multiplicity of voices, ambivalences and collisions? Has Irish culture arrived at a crossroads? How can we be sure that Irish culture will survive to the end of the current century? The lecture aims to create a debate around issues of voice, language, identity and social media in Irish culture. Above all, it hopes to illuminate and entertain. Tabharfar an léacht trí mheán an Bhéarla ach ardófar ceisteanna ann a bhaineann go dlúth le dúchas agus le dán na teanga in Éirinn an lae inniu agus sna blianta atá romhainn. Fáilte roimh cách.



 
Prof. Muiris Ó Laoire is a senior lecturer at IT Tralee

The lecture begins at 6.30pm, it will be followed by workshops and performances of music and song by members of Siamsa Tíre.

Greetings from Thailand... It's Claire Slattery

 

Claire chilling out in Phuket!

As a child growing up in Tralee, I never really understood what Siamsa was. All I knew was that my mother was really keen for me to have the opportunity to become part of it, and it seemed like ‘a big deal’!! It must be said that I didn’t exactly sail through the audition at Teach Siamsa, Finuge. I had to return for a few years before I was finally successful! I spent three very happy years in Finuge before graduating and becoming a community cast member in 2000.

Some familiar faces  - With the cast of Fadó Fadó

At the age of 12, I was fully grown and because of that, I launched straight into learning the adult character for ‘San Am Fado’. I felt a bit hard done by with my height because looking back, I really wanted to have a year or two to come out in my bare feet running around, pretending to be a chicken!! In my later years, however, my baby faced features gave me plenty of opportunity to liaise between child and adult roles. Beginning with ‘San Am Fado’, I have also participated in ‘Oilean’, ‘Clann Lir’, and ‘Tearmann’.

On tour in Germany

One of the wonderful things about live performances is that each and every show is going to be different.  I want to take you back to a show that still haunts my precious teenage years.  The show in question was ‘San Am Fado’, and the second half of the show had just begun. The curtain rises and instantaneously we begin to move to the rhythm of the music in one big group wheel. Now, on this particular night, it seemed that one person may have had too much sugar in their tea during the interval, because the speed of the footwork was increasing with each step. As we grasped each other tightly, hoping to gain control, somebody lost the run of themselves and as the domino effect kicked in, I could feel a tug from both my left sleeve and my right sleeve. I was being pulled in opposite directions. One person was using my arm to break their fall and the other person was trying to prevent me from falling over. But nothing prepared me for the outcome. It was happening and I had no way of preventing it. Each button of my blouse popped open, revealing my under garments to both my friends and an auditorium full of strangers. I immediately dashed off stage to pin my blouse together. I’ll never forget the moment of re-entering the stage there after. Mortified was an understatement of how I felt but ‘The Show Must Go On’!!!

A scene from Oileán

In the past fourteen years, Siamsa has become more than a job and more like a family to me. The friendships that I’ve made there are special and by far some of the most important in my life.

I’m currently teaching abroad. I spent 2013 teaching in South Korea, and I’ve just recently started teaching in Phuket, Thailand.  ‘Between the Jigs and the Reels’ is a fantastic way for me to remain connected with my ‘Siamsa Family’! Happy Anniversary!

A beautiful video featuring Siamsa cast members past and present, Helena Brosnan - Sydney, Claire Slattery - South Korea, Derwin Myres - University College Cork, Norma O'Brien -Tralee which was put together by Anna O'Donoghue.