Edwina Guckian

Mother, dancer, author, arts producer, folklore nerd, director @aircdamhsa & @leitrimdance, proud Leitrim woman, dancing my way through life.

[Edwina Guckian @EdwinaGuckian]

Moment of possible self combustion with the excitement! My book is now in Hodges Figgis, Dawson St, Dublin.
✨ Sparks from the Flagstones - a treasury of Irish Folk Traditions & Calendar Customs.

https://t.co/qcCEE1hJQi

[Edwina Guckian @EdwinaGuckian]

A great community in Meath came together yesterday for their harvest meitheal to cut a patch of organic oats on Michael Whyte’s farm (the same organic oats that supply Flavin’s porridge). Lots of hands gathered the crop, tied sheaves or sorted the straw from the red shank. Others made Mummer hats, twisted ropes, fed everyone or played tunes while we worked. And then we all danced together. All such simple things but that field had magic in it!

Thanks to Barry and the Monasterboice Mummers for inviting me to be part of their community for the day.

@sowingtheseedproject

🎻 by De Danann

[Zoë Conway @ZoeConwayfiddle]

What a moment in our lives!!! 🎶
The closing moments of Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann 2026-main stage, gig rig, Belfast City Hall, amongst thousands of people for the first ever Fleadh in Belfast 🙏
An honour to perform alongside Louise Mulcahy, Edwina Guckian and John Mc Intyre 🩵

[Mark Simpson @BBCMarkSimpson]

After 8 days, it all ended in the early hours of Monday with the champion Lissadell Céilí Band … and a final dance. 🎻🎼 #Fleadh

[Edwina Guckian @EdwinaGuckian]

An incredibly emotional weekend full of joy, performing at the closing of the first #fleadhcheoil held in beautiful Belfast with @ZoeConwayfiddle @mulcahy_louise & John McIntyre, seeing my friends/dance family of the Lissadell Céilí Band win the Senior Céilí Band competition and then getting to join them on stage for their celebrations. Pure joy! 🖤🤍 And just the all round huge positivity of many communities across our island coming together in Belfast to celebrate, sing, dance, play music and take part together. Momentous! Croí lán! 💚

[Edwina Guckian @EdwinaGuckian]

Curious? Confused? Convinced the Devil really did appear in Irish dance halls? Let’s talk… 😈

I’ve been getting lots of questions about The Devils in the Dancehall, so I thought I’d answer some of the most common ones. If there’s anything else you’d like to know, pop your question in the comments!

The Devils in the Dancehall is an immersive night of music, dance, storytelling and theatre that transports you back to the dance halls of 1930s Ireland. Step into a world of where you’ll experience the swinging sound of The Gralton Big Band, foxtrots, flings, forbidden romance, local characters, moral panic and mischief and a night you’ll want to revisit again and again.

Tour Dates
📍 17 Sept – Bere Island Arts Festival, Cork
📍 18 Sept – Culture Night, Cork City Hall
📍 19 Sept – Brosna Hall, Kerry
📍 10 Oct – Grove Ballroom, Bunniconlon, Mayo
📍 11 Oct – Elphin Dance Hall, Roscommon
📍 27 Nov – Anglesborough Hall, Limerick
📍 28 Nov – Halla na Feothanaí, West Kerry
📍 5 Dec – Cloghan Hall, Offaly
📍 10 Dec – Aula Maxima, Maynooth
📍 11 Dec – Ennistymon Hall, Clare
📍 12 Dec – Emerald Ballroom, Ballinasloe, Galway
📍 13 Dec – St. Brigid’s Hall, Tobercurry, Sligo

🎟️ Tickets available now at https://t.co/XXHCuvNUln

Made possible by @artscouncil_ie

[Edwina Guckian @EdwinaGuckian]

“Persons who came to these dances from outside towns in motor cars were scoundrels of the lowest type, and were devils incarnate.”

Fr. Browne - Listowel September 1936

The motorcar transformed rural courtship almost overnight. It gave young people a freedom their parents' generation had never known, and with that came plenty of mischief and craic.

Throughout my research for The Devil’s in the Dance Hall, I've heard plenty of stories from that first generation who swapped bicycles for four wheels on the road to the dance.

If one fella was known to have the only reliable car in the parish, he’d suddenly have twenty “great friends” every Saturday evening looking for a lift.

Cars built for four were somehow expected to carry six, eight, sometimes more. There always seemed to be someone squeezed onto another's lap and folded into whatever space was left.

The cool boys would have the big white lamps and the arm out the window. And their cars would be shining! But the glamour only lasted as long as the engine behaved.

Many told me the trick was to find a good hill and to park the car facing downwards before you went into the dance. “Turn in the wheels, put a stone to the front of one of them and stick it into reverse for good measure. That should hold it! And if the battery gave up in the early hours of the morning, gravity was sure to get you home.”

While other hills became famous because some cars couldn’t climb them with a full load. Everyone had to hop out, walk to the top, while the driver coaxed the car up behind them with a few lads giving it a push.

There were always great roars of laughter when women told me the stories of climbing into the wrong car at the end of the night. In a car park full of identical black or red Fords, it wasn't until someone spoke, or worse, someone put an arm around the wrong person, that they realised they'd joined another crowd entirely.

And then there were the punctures. “While some romances started with a waltz, others began at the side of the road with a flat tyre.”

One line that came up regularly was: "She only danced with fellas that had a car. She’s have the keys spotted in his pocket!"

There were lads who'd put a dab of petrol on their shirt collars before heading into the dance. The idea was that when they held a girl close for the waltz she'd catch the smell of petrol and naturally assume he owned a car. Sure wasn't that half the battle won? The only flaw in the plan came when the dance finished, they strolled out to the car park, and not a car to be seen! 😅

This September, The Devils in the Dancehall is setting off on tour around Ireland for unforgettable nights of music, song, stories, dancing and divilment in our old dance halls. So shine up the motorcar, gather your friends for the journey, dab a bit of petrol on the collar, and book your tickets to step back in time and dance with the devil.

🎟 Tickets https://t.co/E6Uye34dGN

SEPTEMBER
📍 17 September – Bere Island Arts Festival, Cork
📍 18 September – Culture Night, Cork City Hall
📍 19 September – Brosna Hall, Kerry

OCTOBER
📍 10 October – Grove Ballroom, Bunniconlon, Mayo
📍 11 October – Elphin Dance Hall, Roscommon

NOVEMBER
📍 27 November – Anglesborough Hall, Limerick
📍 28 November – Halla na Feothanaí, West Kerry

DECEMBER
📍 5 December – Cloghan Hall, Offaly
📍 10 December – Aula Maxima, Maynooth, Kildare
📍 11 December – Ennistymon Hall, Clare
📍 12 December – Emerald Ballroom, Ballinasloe, Galway
📍 13 December – St. Brigid’s Hall, Tobercurry, Sligo

Artwork by Black Rogue Design

Funded by @artscouncil_ie

[Edwina Guckian @EdwinaGuckian]

Today was special! Bilberry Sunday spent galavanting round the Liberties visiting some beautiful local characters, young and old, with the Stray Sod Strawboys.
@libeemacrawhan @ultaaan_ @saranomaolagain @seamas

Thanks to our transport Púca the horse and Mark from @odwyer_and_sons ⭐️

Programmed by @seancorcoranseries for @thelibertiesfestival 🙌

Special thanks to @nujseamus and friends ⭐️

[Edwina Guckian @EdwinaGuckian]

Drumshanbo Cake Dance Champions - Caitlin Nic Gabhann, Bernie Mhic Gabhann & Mai Cryan 🍰

Thanks to all that made it such a wonderful evening celebrating dance and community along the shores of Lough Allen. It was magic! ✨

Special thanks to our piper Pádraig Mac Samhráin, my family for all their help and farmer Tommy Earley and all his family for hosting us on their incredible organic farm. And to LuailDance - Ireland’s National Dance Company for making it all possible.

https://t.co/Yq591lT2Og

@artscouncil_ie

[Edwina Guckian @EdwinaGuckian]

TICKETS ON SALE NOW 🔥
The Devil’s in the Dance Hall Tour

BOOK HERE: https://t.co/tI06nYy09f

📍 17 September – Bere Island Arts Festival, Cork

📍 18 September – Culture Night, Cork City Hall

📍 19 September – Brosna Hall, Kerry

📍 10 October – Grove Ballroom, Bunniconlon, Mayo

📍 11 October – Elphin Dance Hall, Roscommon

📍 27 November – Anglesborough Hall, Limerick

📍 28 November – Halla na Feothanaí, West Kerry

📍 5 December – Cloghan Hall, Offaly

📍 10 December – Aula Maxima, Maynooth, Kildare

📍 11 December – Ennistymon Hall, Clare

📍 12 December – Emerald Ballroom, Ballinasloe, Galway

📍 13 December – St. Brigid’s Hall, Tobercurry, Sligo

Supported by @artscouncil_ie

Artwork by Black Rogue Design

[Edwina Guckian @EdwinaGuckian]

📣 TOUR ANNOUNCEMENT 📣 The Devil’s in the Dancehall – Autumn/Winter Tour 2026

We’re so excited to finally share the tour details of The Devil’s in the Dancehall!

As the dark half of the year draws in, we’ll be journeying to dance halls across Ireland, filling them with dancing, stories, community, craic and the roaring sounds of the Gralton Big Band. Come join us!

🎟 Tickets go on sale this Friday at https://t.co/XXHCuvNUln

Tour Dates

📍 17 September – Bere Island Arts Festival, Cork
📍 18 September – Culture Night, Cork City Hall
📍 19 September – Brosna Hall, Kerry
📍 10 October – Grove Ballroom, Bunniconlon, Mayo
📍 11 October – Elphin Dance Hall, Roscommon
📍 27 November – Anglesborough Hall, Limerick
📍 28 November – Halla na Feothanaí, West Kerry
📍 5 December – Cloghan Hall, Offaly
📍 10 December – Aula Maxima, Maynooth, Kildare
📍 11 December – Ennistymon Hall, Clare
📍 12 December – Emerald Ballroom, Ballinasloe, Galway
📍 13 December – St. Brigid’s Hall, Tobercurry, Sligo

All made possible by @artscouncil_ie

🎥 @itchyfeetcreative

[Edwina Guckian @EdwinaGuckian]

Don’t forget to sprinkle the May flowers across your doorstep tonight. Oíche Bealtaine! 🌼
For it is on this night, between sunset and sunrise on May Day, that na daoine maithe, the good people, are out and about with notions of their own.

If you’re wandering the roads late, it’s no harm at all to carry a small piece of iron in your pocket, just to keep your feet firmly in your world and not theirs. Because should you find yourself suddenly turned around, hedges where there were none before, roads multiplying at crossroads, and home nowhere to be found… well, you’ve likely had the misfortune of stepping on the stray sod.

And sure if that happens, don’t be making a show of yourself roaring and cursing the darkness. That’s exactly the kind of entertainment they’d be hoping for. Keep your wits, take off your jacket and turn it inside out.

And mind yourself with those little flickering lights dancing before your eyes. Harmless looking, but they’re the very light of the fairies. Sclimpíní! You’re never to follow them. Many a man has been led clean astray, chasing a glow that keeps just out of reach, until they’ve neither road nor sense of direction left to them.

Now, if you hear music playing above in the hills, you’d want to be cautious. Don’t hop the hedge for a nose. They’re out celebrating the turning of the year. And they might call you in. “A tune?”, they’ll say. “Or throw a step for us?” Sure what harm? And isn’t it hard to refuse when the music is so good?
If you do refuse outright, they might take offence. Never a wise move. You could end up with a hump on your back for good. But if you do join them… well… time has a habit of slipping away. A reel could last a minute, or a year and a day.

Best advice? If you’re drawn in, keep one foot in your own world. Don’t eat, don’t drink, and don’t let them slap you on the back as if you belong there. Praise their music, their dancing. Give a polite step amongst them, then put your hand around that piece of iron in your pocket and edge your way out like you’ve remembered the spuds are boiling on the fire at home.

Come May morning, wash your face in the dew for a touch of eternal youth, your hands to untie any knot, and your feet to keep the magic in them for dancing all the days ahead.

And if you wake with sore legs and no memory of the night at all, the shoes still on you inside in the bed, the balls of your feet worn out through the soles of them… well now, maybe you kept better company than you thought.

[Edwina Guckian @EdwinaGuckian]

The Conference of the Birds is taking place this week in Kilnagross, Co. Leitrim before they head up to the fairy tree on Sheemore to celebrate Bealtaine.

At today’s AGM chaired by the barn owl, the Hedge Committee opened proceedings with grave concern over the “tidiness epidemic” sweeping the countryside. The blackbird gave a heartfelt address on the loss of winter berries, while the wren described certain hedgerows as “nothing short of ecological deserts, trimmed within an inch of their lives.”

A delegation of robins presented findings on soil quality, noting that “worms are harder found by but the future is looking bright with so many farmers turning organic.” This was followed by a stirring contribution from the curlew (attending remotely from her nest on Shanley’s bog), who reminded all present that what happens in the hedges does not stay in the hedges.

One of the week’s highlights was the selection of the Birds’ Farming for Nature Ambassador. Tommy Earley of Mount Allen Farm was awarded the prize. Many other Leitrim farmers were highly commended with the skylark praising “those farmers who farm with nature, who cut late if at all, and who understand that a hedge is not a boundary line, but a living world.”

The Bird in Residence Bursary was given to the corncrake who will begin her 5 month residency on Mount Allen Farm next spring.

A controversial presentation was delivered on the latest in hedge-mowing technology, referred to by several birds as “The Great Flattener.”
A willow warbler demonstrated, with unsettling accuracy, the speed at which a hedge can be reduced from a rich habitat to a bare scaffold by the flail. Gasps were heard. One elderly blackcap fainted briefly.

A motion was passed on Dawn Chorus Standards:

“That no mechanical noise, leaf blower, chainsaw, or the over-enthusiastic strimmer shall commence before the conclusion of the morning chorus.”
Proposed by the Song thrush. Seconded by the blackbird at 4:47 a.m.

Proceedings were temporarily disrupted when a large group of meadow pipits arrived with placards “Not My Egg, Not My Job!”
A spokesperson for the group said:
“Year after year we are selected without consultation to be the cuckoos nurse.
We are told this is tradition. This is nature.
But where is the support? Where is the union? We want to resign from this role immediately.”

The magpie tabled a motion for the next meeting:
That the cuckoo be formally requested to clarify its housing policy, including but not limited to nest ownership, tenancy rights, and the ethical implications of outsourcing parental responsibilities.

Other exciting events coming up this week at the conference include a Dawn Chorus Competition and a workshop on Advanced Nest Camouflage in Increasingly Sparse Hedges (fully booked).

The gathering concludes with the highlight of the week. A trip up Sheemore to the fairy hawthorn tree to celebrate Bealtaine. The children of Kilnagross National School will make their way by bicycle to the hill, travelling through the living hedgerows that have been at the heart of the week’s discussions. Along the route, the birds will accompany them with all swallows leading the way.

The celebration itself promises music, song and dancing on the hillside, as children and birds alike mark the arrival of summer together. It is hoped that the gathering will not only honour the turning of the year, but also renew a shared understanding of the land, of hedges left to grow, and of the small but very important lives that depend on them.

A project by Mairead Hurley and Trinity College Dublin with artist Edwina Guckian and Kilnagross N.S Co. Leitrim.

[Save Leitrim @SaveLeitrim]

What kind of a country have we become when such one sided commercially produced propaganda tripe is being paid for by taxpayers and endorsed by @MHealyRae to indocterinate our children.

[RTÉ News @rtenews]

An ecovillage in Co Tipperary has introduced a new lighting system designed to reduce light pollution and protect nocturnal wildlife such as bats and moths https://t.co/UlcKB3RtdM

[Edwina Guckian @EdwinaGuckian]

Today is Jimmy Gralton’s 140th birthday! 🎉

We can’t think of a better present for him than rebuilding his hall. If you’d like to help us raise the roof of Gralton’s Hall visit https://t.co/Kq8zjLqZjf

Jimmy Gralton (1886–1945) was a community activist from Effrinagh, Drumsna, near Carrick-on-Shannon in County Leitrim, and the only Irish citizen ever deported by the Irish Free State.

In 1921, on his own land in Effrinagh, and with the voluntary labour and belief of the local people, they built a hall for the community. It belonged to everyone. Inside, there were music and dance classes, boxing an a gym, Irish language lessons, political meetings and renowned dances that drew people from across the county. The hall became a place where young people felt seen, where bodies moved freely, and where community life flourished.

From the outset, the hall was watched. The Church and local priests condemned Gralton’s politics, the music, the dancing, and socialising of the people. Those who attended dances were named from pulpits, scrutinised and shamed. Supporters of the hall were branded dangerous, immoral, subversive. They said the Devil was in that dance hall.

Condemnation soon turned to intimidation and in 1922 Gralton closed the hall and once again left for the United States.

Ten years later, believing Ireland had changed, Jimmy came home again and reopened the hall. It thrived. Huge dance nights filled the space, with people travelling from neighbouring counties to attend. The jazz rhythms of the roaring twenties crossed the Atlantic and folded themselves into Irish music, and once more the hall pulsed with life.

But the opposition returned almost immediately. Shots were fired into the hall while people danced. Landmines were placed beneath the floor and on Christmas Eve 1932, Gralton’s Hall was attacked and burned to the ground.

Soon after, Gralton was accused of communist agitation and public disorder. He was labelled “an undesirable alien”. In 1933, despite being born in Ireland, he was served with a deportation order, arrested and forcibly removed from his own country. The only Irishman ever deported by the Irish Free State.

[Edwina Guckian @EdwinaGuckian]

We finished off our 10th year of Leitrim Dance Festival with a dance around the ring in Drumshanbo Mart. We’ve 5 marts in Leitrim and they’re a thriving and vital part of our rural communities.

Thanks to Eoiny Keane for welcoming us all in the gate today.
It was magic! Up Leitrim! 💚💛

@artscouncil_ie @LeitrimDance @leitrimcoco

[Edwina Guckian @EdwinaGuckian]

I’d say if the Gralton Big Band kept playing until the sun rose this morning, the crowd would still be there dancing! Such was the magic last night in the Mayflower Ballroom at The Devil’s in the Dance Hall. Thanks to all that travelled back in time to Drumshanbo from near and far. We had so much fun! ⭐️

[Edwina Guckian @EdwinaGuckian]

Tune into Céilí House on @RTERadio1 this Saturday night coming from my kitchen with The Gralton Big Band, Aidan Vaughan, Vincent Woods and a great crowd of neighbours and friends 💛

[Edwina Guckian @EdwinaGuckian]

Have a listen to my interview with Miriam O’ Callaghan to hear all about our show in the National Concert Hall, Dublin, this St. Patrick’s Day with The Gralton Big Band and the cast of The Devil’s in the Dance Hall 💃🏼

https://t.co/jVxZMPeivL

@NCH_Music

[Edwina Guckian @EdwinaGuckian]

Walking through Drumcondra yesterday and don’t I only go and meet myself on a bus! 😂
All part of a mega celebration of Irish culture at the @NCH_Music

15th March - Drawing from the Well with the Irish Traditional Music Archive - I’ll be hosting a cake dance with many wonderful dancers in celebration Breandan Breathnach

16th March - @thekilfenora Céilí Band take to the main stage on Monday

17th St. Patrick’s Day - a a big night with myself and The Gralton Big Band with a huge crew of actors and dancers - so excited for this!! It’s the music, dance and story of dance from the 1930s.

Tickets at https://t.co/zbPufjapiU ☘️