After years preparing for competitions, Irish dancers are consummate in many things: fast footwork, graceful kicks, a sharp sense of rhythm and, of course, keeping their arms wedged to their sides like glue. Then, shows like Lord Of The Dance and Riverdance taught them how to blend in with the crowd and not stand out. So joining the cast of Spirit Of Ireland must have felt like a breath of fresh Celtic air.
‘It’s brilliant,’ says Emmett Mc Morrow, who has danced in the show for 12 years during various European tours. We meet during the its recent run in Lisbon. ‘I’ve performed in about 15 different Irish dance shows, but the reason I keep coming back to this one is it’s just extremely enjoyable. With a lot of productions, such as Riverdance, you come out on stage, you dance, you leave. But here, you have a narrator that’s absolutely hilarious; we’re consistently on stage acting as well as dancing. It’s a great mix.’
The show’s location (a 1000-year-old pub called Irish Celtic) is a key part of its charm, and one of the reasons both audiences and cast members enjoy spending time there. For although everyone who appears on stage (from the superb five-piece band to the world-class Irish dancers) is slick and professional, the whole show hangs together like a wonderfully warm and friendly pub session. Was that the atmosphere the creators were going for?
‘Absolutely,’ says musical director Anthony Davis, who combines original compositions, well-loved Irish songs and film tracks in the show’s score. ‘From the very beginning, the idea was that the audience is in the show, too. So at the start, we bring a few glasses of whisky down to the crowd, to make people feel like they’re in a pub. I’ve been performing in shows for 20-plus years and this is the only one that has that vibe.’
As for the humour, that comes from Spirit Of Ireland’s central premise: a landlord looking to hand over his business to the next generation. Only trouble is Paddy’s son Dermot isn’t the sharpest tool in the box and needs to learn a lesson or two about Irish history and how to run a pub. Taking on the role of Paddy at the Fringe is Michael Redmond, a Dublin stand-up best known for playing Father Stone in the beloved TV sitcom, Father Ted. His hapless son is played by Jack Lynch, whose own accomplishments are actually far from small. Specialising in traditional ‘Sean nós’ dancing (meaning ‘old style’ in Gaelic), Lynch is the current Oireachtas World Champion.

‘It’s the oldest type of dance we have in Ireland’, explains Lynch, who wows audiences with his tricky ‘brush dance’ among other moves. ‘A lot of what you see Irish dancers doing, that Michael Flatley style, evolved from Sean nós. It’s centuries old and survives in areas where the Irish language is spoken on a daily basis. I grew up in County Meath, so I was very exposed to the language and the dancing.’
But while initially Lynch trained in the more ubiquitous Irish dance style, he soon realised it wasn’t for him. ‘I always wanted to dance when I was younger, but I wasn’t very good at keeping my posture straight,’ he says with a smile. ‘Sean nós is more loose, more freestyle. As for the brush dance, that’s a kind of party piece. I’ve been doing it for years but it’s not easy, it takes years of practise and building up your stamina.’
Like his fellow cast members, Lynch calls Spirit Of Ireland ‘unique’ and a world away from the competitions he’s fought so hard to win. ‘The connection to the audience in this show is really important,’ he says. ‘And telling the story of Ireland and its history, intertwining that with my story as Dermot is heartwarming. There’s not usually a lot of speaking in Irish dance shows, so this is one-of-a-kind.’
Spirit Of Ireland, Pleasance At EICC, 7–27 August, 8pm.