Peadar O'Rafferty and Irish Folk Dancing

Peadar O’Rafferty (1889-1974) made a significant contribution to the arts, culture and positive community relations in Belfast and Northern Ireland, but there is no blue plaque in his name, no mural of him on any wall, no etching of him on a city hall window. Neither the Gaelic/Irish tradition or the Ulster-Scots/British tradition claim him. His legacy lies in the space in between.

When writing my book, Irish Dancing: The Festival Story, I spent a disproportionate amount of time researching Peadar O’Rafferty, initially through the newspaper archives, and then by asking everyone I spoke to, ‘did you ever meet him?’ By all accounts, he was a quiet man and a gentleman. Seven years after publication, I have finally had the chance to speak to a living relative. I now have a picture of a grandfather coming to the door of his home, singing a ditty and dancing for the children who greeted him with English accents. Peadar has become both song and dance, the arc of him an island and an archipelago.

The following words set the tone for nearly a century of artistry in Irish folk dancing. Written by Peadar in 1934, they still resonate within the festival community of Irish dancing today. 
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‘All the movements should be performed gracefully, but without that straining after effect which is invariably disastrous. The carriage should be natural and easy, the body being held lightly, the head erect, but not stiffly so, the arms, when not employed, held easily by the sides.’

In 1912, Peadar O’Rafferty’s pupils from the Belfast Irish Dancing Academy performed an event organised by Gaelic Revival group Craobh Ruadh (Red Branch). The journalist wrote that Peadar was ‘one of the most graceful and accomplished Irish dancers in Ulster.’ The writer, who praised his up-to-date teaching style, explained, ‘Mr O’Rafferty takes a personal interest in every one of his young pupils, and the academy is doing much to further the cause of this branch of Irish-Ireland work.’

An early photograph of Peadar has him in a couples hold with dancer Marie MacStocker. The Misses McStocker, Peadar and dancer Sean Best often performed the four-hand-reel together at the early feiseanna. His lessons also comprised music and dances of the Scottish tradition:known for teaching ‘The Lancers’ and ‘The Caledonians’, his preferred set dance, ‘Maggie Pickins’, is also thought to have been an old Scottish step dance.

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