Irish Dancing Championships, 1964

Young competitors showcase their talents at the All Ireland Dancing Championships in Dublin.

For two days in March, the Mansion House is alive with the sounds of music and dancing, as young people compete in the 1964 Oireachtas Na Rince, the All-Ireland Irish Dancing Championships.

All the hours spent practising jigs and reels has been leading up to this where the floor belongs to the dancer for a few minutes.

There has been great interest in the competition, which is organised by An Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha (The Irish Dancing Commission). With approximately 1,000 entries, almost every county in Ireland is represented, in addition to contingents from London, Manchester, Liverpool. Teams are counted as a single entry, as categories the Oireachtas include céilí as well as figure dancing.

Here competitors in the Minor Dancing Championships dance a three hand reel, which ends when the adjudicator’s bell rings.

An RTÉ News report broadcast on 7 March 1964.