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Irish cultural expression in Liverpool |
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Continuing Traditions
Irish dancers pictured at the Irish Centre, Liverpool
© Courtsey of The Irish Centre, Liverpool / Tommy Walsh |
Although the Irish Centre on Mount Pleasant has closed in recent years, music and dance classes and regular music sessions now take place within a number of city venues and traditions of Irish music and dance continue to thrive. Regular music sessions are held in city pubs and social venues where musicians sit in a loose circle playing instruments such as the bodhrán, fiddle and tin whistle. Such music and dance practice can be seen not only as an enjoyable cultural pursuit but also as an important way for second and third-generation Irish people to identify with their ethnic background. As Kathleen, an Irish dancer born in Liverpool comments: ‘It seems like over here, when we are away from Ireland, that we want to grasp at our heritage more.’
A St. Patrick's day sing-song at the Irish Centre, Liverpool
© Courtesy of The Irish Centre, Liverpool / Tommy Walsh |
Music and dance provide ways to both engage with cultural practices and to connect up with other Liverpool-Irish people in a social setting. Indeed, the fact that Irish music and dance is taken so seriously by second and third generation Irish people has sometimes caused their relatives to jibe that they are ‘more Irish than the Irish’. As Siobhan, an Irish dancer from the Liverpool community comments: ‘My cousins back in Ireland don’t do any of the Irish music or dancing … so they’re like “Oh, it’s the English ones who can do all the Irish stuff!”. They like to show us off’. As these comments demonstrate music and dance can provide ways for people to connect with Irish traditions, link up with family and friendship networks and display a sense of cultural belonging. Indeed sometimes such cultural customs can often take on an increased significance for people living away from ‘home’. With frequent Irish dance classes and regular music events, matched with a desire within the community to hold on to its roots, it looks like Liverpool’s reputation as an Irish city is set to remain.
Words: Marion Leonard
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