By Phil Meehan
In the early ‘90’s the All Ireland Cultural Society sponsored a troupe of Set Dancers from Cork and Kinsale to do a workshop in Portland. They introduced the West Kerry and The Borlin Sets and demonstrated some very complex footwork. The battering was roundly rejected by all but a few, but what impressed me was the styling of the male dancers. The young men from Cork did everything but the splits in their dancing and the older gentlemen impressed with glacially smooth moves. This, I decided, is what I want to be when I grow up! Of course, the lovely women of Ireland that accompanied them that were Kerry Gold on soda bread, and may have had something to do with it. I was ready to sit down to tea.
30 years later I am still at the table. I was lucky to be able to go to the Willie Clancy Summer School a number of times and observe the men of County Clare battering on their home turf. Willie Keane, Aiden Vaughan, Paddy Neylon, and others were masters of their craft. Observation, imitation and wood shedding gave me a small amount of their skill. But it was one of the local girls who had danced with Willie that brought my joy to a new level. She encouraged me to batter in a set with her and though I apologized profusely for breaking into a river of sweat, I knew I found my place.
That first year in Ireland I wore a pair of sneakers, runners, they were referred to, and merely tried to get the style down. Paddy and Philomena Quelley, chain-smoking task masters of the Caledonian Set barked us through figure after figure all week long. People were breaking down in tears, told they were so fat they ought to sit out a figure or two. They were the “trainers” of the local 7-8 year old set dancers, and I guess we were just a bit too independent. But I learned the dance. I came back to Milltown Malbay twice more, with a bit more of the batter each time, pounding in my own sweat in class after class.
Battering in the set was and still is rare, but I recall dancing sets where my jaw would drop at the expertise of men like Pádraig McEneany, Mick Mulkerrin or Patrick O’Dea. Or others, not flashy but precise and full of joy like Connie Ryan. It was Connie when asked about battering said, “Just drop your heel now and then.”
Now because of the popularity of Sean-nós dancing, I am more likely to find a woman who batters. Dancing with my daughter, Maldon Meehan is one of the greatest joys of my life. She gets it! She gets not only the dancing but the music as well. With her it is effortless and so much fun! Irish comfort food, a trip to the chipper, to return to a culinary metaphor!
In American contra and ceili dancing there is a “tradition” of clapping when the dancers are not active. It is sort of fun, but often becomes complex and I think distracts from the music. Battering can do that as well if a group decides to bring hard shoes onto the floor. A good rule is to keep the sound so that it never overpowers the music. Battering should be used to communicate with you partner, with the others in your set, and occasional accent to the music. In Clare, at a large ceili, you will hear what seems like everyone battering, but will hardly find any one dancer standing out. That is the beauty of it. The secret is to treat it like a cup of Barry’s Tea, put in a little splash of Irish full milk to smooth it out. Bigi a rince!
Paddy’s Nelyon and Willie Keane!