After five years of set dancing, I figured I should be able to keep up with the dancing at The Gathering in Killarney, so I gave it a try. There was a group going from Boston and a couple of Harrington's dancers looking for roommates, so I booked my flight in October for the February 2009 event at the first sight of Aer Lingus's winter sale. We eventually settled on accommodations at the Gleneagle River Apartments (see travel tips for The Gathering) , which were excellent.The fun began on Wednesday night. A group of us headed into town to dance to the Johhny Reidy Ceili Band at the Grand Hotel. The tempo was brisk. The night was fun. The small crowd of likely regulars was welcoming. The Gathering organizers sponsored an optional ceili and pub session in a nearby town.
The activity was non-stop after that, starting with the school outreach program Thursday morning (a rewarding experience) and enhanced by a couple of independent excursions on Thursday and Friday afternoons. Set dancing ceilis on Friday and Saturday nights and Sunday afternoon and sean-nos and set dancing workshops on Saturday morning and afternoon and Sunday morning filled in most of my schedule, but there were music concerts and pub sessions that I didn't want to miss - so I got very little sleep from then on. It was truly amazing.
Sunday afternoon' set dance workshop was on the Melleray Lancers Set (video posted on IrishSetDancing.ning.com by Peter Jackson) - see set dancing notes - also known as the Waterford Lancers, from County Waterford, Ireland.
Follow-up note May 2009: Vaughan's Pub now has its own website at http://www.vaughanspub.ie/
View a great video of set dancing at Vaughan's Pub on YouTube.
