Dancing the Night Away: Crowds Packed the Museum for Céilí Mór

The Irish spirit invaded the Museum of Glass this month as we hosted our first ever traditional Céilí Mór on Saturday, March 22. In celebration of the exhibition CAUTION! Fragile. Irish Glass: Tradition in Transition, people gathered to celebrate with drink, song and dance!

The evening started with special remarks from Dinny McGinley, the Irish Minister of the Department of Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht. Mr. McGinley, who had never been to the Museum before, was very impressed and credited the exhibition’s curator Róisín de Buitléar with bringing her energy and enthusiasm for glass to shed light on the great loss to Irish heritage and culture that has happened in the wake of the closure of the Waterford factory. “We are all here because of this stuff – glass,” noted McGinley. “[Róisín] is doing something incredible with this medium.”

Starting the evening was a performance from the famous Irish singer Liam Ó Maonlaí. Known for his incredible voice, Ó Maonlaí got the guests started with a participatory song.

For the dancing portion of the evening, guests were treated to authentic Irish music performed by the Carrigaline Celtic Band with expert calling by Kieran O’Mahony.

Four talented dancers from the Tony Comerford Dance School joined us as well and gave an amazing high energy performance.

It was wonderful to welcome so many old friends and new faces. “We were all totally blown away at the enthusiasm and energy at the event,” noted John Ferguson, Event Manager. “Lessons learned definitely include ordering more Guinness.”