reel (ireland)

not sure about all this irish jig stuff
i suspect i may have had too much exposure to it in my childhood days
playing piano in various local competitions and seeing and hearing girls competing in irish dance
that's my theory anyway as i do have a real (pun intended) aversion to this style
but for the sake of completeness we shall press on - here's songlines magazine bit about reel
the reel is reckoned to have reached ireland towards the end of the 18th century
this rapid 4/4 dance form subsequently became the king of ireland's traditional music
which apart from slow airs consists almost entirely of dance tunes
all incorporated from other parts of europe
the mag goes on to recommend an album of music from noel hill and tony macmahon
lo and behold those 2 have some videos posted on youtube
so have selected the following clip recorded in 1994
one wag posted a comment suggesting noel hill is actually gerry adams with glasses
apparantly the instruments being played are the box and concertina accordians
in the second half of the video the floor is taken over by 4 couples
providing what appears to be an example of traditional irish dance
to go with this example of traditional irish music
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