Lincoln Irish Dancers

06/18/2026

A.I. likely had a hand in this, but a nice discussion and illustration of ceili dancing nonetheless.

🎻 Before the ballrooms. Before the dancehalls. Before the Catholic Church began to worry about what young people were doing in the dark and the County Councils began passing resolutions against outdoor dancing. Before all of that, the Irish danced at the crossroads — and the crossroads dance was one of the most purely joyful things the Irish countryside had ever produced.

The tradition of outdoor dancing at crossroads and on flat stones in rural Ireland is ancient — references to it appear in records going back centuries, and the practice itself almost certainly predates Christianity in Ireland. The crossroads was a liminal place in Irish culture — a threshold, a meeting point of different roads and therefore different worlds, associated in folklore with the fairy world and with the kind of encounters that could only happen at boundaries. It was the natural place for communal gathering, for the kind of music and dancing that required space and community and the open air.

The céilí dance tradition that flourished in rural Ireland through the 19th and into the 20th century was built on a repertoire of set dances — structured group figures danced by four or more couples in precise formations — and the solo step-dancing tradition that produced the flat-footed, rhythmically intricate footwork style that varies distinctly from one province to the next. Connacht dancers kept their arms down, their upper bodies still, all the energy in the feet. Munster style was different. Ulster style was different again. Every county had its own music, its own dance masters, its own particular way of being Irish on a summer evening.

The céilí survived emigration. The Irish brought it to London, to Boston, to Chicago, to Sydney — brought it to church halls and community centers and back gardens, anywhere a fiddler could sit on a chair and drive the figures. Brought it to countries where the crossroads was paved over and the summer evenings were different but the music was the same.

Wherever two or three Irish are gathered, eventually someone plays, and eventually someone dances. This has been true for longer than anyone can remember. 🌿

06/14/2026

Cute! Remember this next time you fly. 😊

06/09/2026

Yay, Mairtin! We were privileged to have him and his Fuschia Band here in Lincoln for one of our ceilis.

Máirtín de Cógáin, a renowned singer, dancer, story-teller, and master of the bodhrán, has been named the 2026 recipient of the Irish Artist in America Achievement Award by the Traditional Irish Music Education Society (TIMES). The award, which recognizes individuals who have advanced the teaching and performance of Irish music in the United States, will be presented at the 23rd Annual O’Flaherty Irish Music Retreat on October 22-25 in
Midlothian, Texas.

“We are pleased to honor Máirtín with this award,” said TIMES Executive Director Ken Fleming. “His entire life has been devoted to Irish cultural arts, and his many talents, which besides music and dance, include storytelling, acting and playwriting, make him a unique performer and educator and a worthy recipient of this recognition.”

Máirtín was born in Carrigaline, a small town south of Cork City in Ireland. He hails from a musical family, but it was his family’s love of dancing that captivated Máirtín from an early age. His father, Barry Cogan, organized monthly céilís, but he is also an excellent storyteller, a talent that young Máirtín would inherit. He credits his dad as the person who
most shaped his approach to performing.

Despite his growing success as a singer, dancer, and storyteller, Máirtín would find himself at sessions on the outside looking in at the “golden circle of music” that included his musician friends. His mother, Aislinn, recognizing his yearning to be in that circle, presented him with a toy bodhrán while waiting for a lift home from their Comhaltas Branch and sent him off to learn from De Danann alumni Eric Cunningham, and later, Colm Murphy. Within a few months he had acquired a brand new drum, and, to his surprise, found himself teaching classes. He had finally found his instrument, and his professional journey both as performer and teacher began.

He dabbled in playing a number of instruments during his youth — whistle, fiddle, bagpipes, and accordion — but those interests were soon outweighed by the discovery of a gift for singing. Máirtín became an avid collector of songs, learning the Sean-nós style from Danni Maichi Ua Súlleabháin and later being influenced by other famous singers such as Séamus Mac Mathúna and Ciarán Dwyer. Having grown up in an Irish-speaking home and sharing his parents’ love of the “Teanga na Gael,” Máirtín expanded his knowledge by earning a degree in Irish language from University College Cork.

Since those early days, Máirtín has toured the globe with The Máirtín de Cógáin Project, The Fuchsia Band, Galilean and several years with The Voice of Cork, Jimmy Crowley, his friend and mentor and a central figure in the Irish folk scene since the 70s. De Cógáin has performed and taught bodhrán, singing, storytelling, Irish language and folk dancing at many festivals and music camps in the U.S. Along with his experiences as an actor in movies such as “The Wind that Shakes the Barley” and numerous theatrical productions, some of which he has co-written, Máirtín has kept himself busy.

Today, as a resident of California, Máirtín remains active in preserving and sharing Irish arts with whomever he can. He currently produces a podcast, The Ballad Lounge, with Rory Makem, which explores the history and impact of the great songs of Ireland. He still performs gigs with various ensembles, teaches at music camps and festivals, organizes musical Bus Tours of Ireland, and, whenever he can, savors a good session, sitting inside that “golden circle of music” with his friends, with his bodhrán in his hand, a song in his head, and story ready to tell.

Previous Irish Artist in America Achievement Award recipients include Kevin Burke (2010), John Doyle (2011), James Kelly (2012), Brendan Mulvihill (2013), Joanie Madden (2014), Mick Moloney (2016), Liz Carroll (2017), Séamus Connolly (2018), Rose Conway Flanagan (2019), James Keane (2020), Randal Bays (2021), Brian Conway (2022), Colin Farrell (2023), Liz Knowles (2024) and Billy McComiskey (2025).

For more information about TIMES, go to www.irishtradmusic.org. About the O’Flaherty Irish Music Retreat, go to www.oflahertyretreat.org. TIMES is a non-profit organization based in Richardson, Texas whose mission is to “assist and encourage people in their learning and playing of traditional Irish music through culturally unique, educational programs and performance events.”

06/08/2026

Here’s your chance, folks!

Second Wednesdays mean market music by the Lincoln Irish Session Players, 5-7pm (next one is this week, June 10)! If you've never been to an Irish trad session, you're in for a treat with this talented core of musicians, an occasional Irish dancer and some special guests that want to join in. This is unplugged, traditional music, so gather round on the patio to best enjoy them. Join us at Union Plaza/Hub Cafe, 21st & Q St, Lincoln, NE 🍀☘️🍀

05/31/2026

From back when none of us had likely even heard of Irish dancing! ☺️

05/30/2026

Here’s something a little bit different.

05/26/2026

Who’d enjoy doing this for an evening?