In 1935, dancing became illegal in Ireland unless you had a licence.

You couldn’t simply organise a dance in a barn. You couldn’t dance at a crossroads. And in rural Ireland, you couldn’t even hold a dance in your own home.

The Public Dance Halls Act was part of a much wider attempt to control Irish social life — with the Church and authorities deeply involved in deciding where, how and even whether people could dance.

But what happens when a community refuses to accept that control?

Edwina Guckian is a dancer, choreographer and community organiser who has spent years exploring Ireland’s lost dance culture and the forces that shaped it. Her work on The Devil's in the Dance Hall brings this history back to life through music, dance and storytelling. The project explores a time when jazz, dancing and new forms of socialising were seen by some as a threat to Irish society — even being described as the work of the devil.

We also get into the extraordinary story of Jimmy Gralton, who reopened a community hall in 1932 as a space for dancing, music, education and gathering. The hall quickly attracted people from beyond the local community, but the conflict surrounding it escalated dramatically. Shots were fired at dancers, and on Christmas Eve 1932, the hall was attacked and burned down.

Nearly a century later, Edwina is helping bring the story full circle.

A campaign is now underway to rebuild Gralton’s Hall on its original site — not simply as a monument to the past, but as a new community space where people can gather, dance and connect across generations.

We talk about why Ireland has lost many of its natural spaces for social connection, why people can feel so inhibited about dancing today, and what it takes to create a genuinely safe space where people feel comfortable getting onto the dance floor.

Edwina also shares the thinking behind the Rambling Project, her work bringing different generations together, and why she believes that if something is missing from your community, you shouldn’t wait for someone else to create it.

Sometimes, you just have to build it yourself.

Support the podcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/HarrisonGardner

CONNECT WITH ME

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_harrisongardner

Website: https://www.harrisongardner.net/

Bookstore: https://www.harrisongardner.net/bookstore-1

Pre-order my new book HEAT-SHELTER-WATER-FOOD

https://www.harrisongardner.net/heat-shelter-water-food

Follow Edwina

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edwinaguckian/

Support the Rebuild of Gralton’s Hall:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/rebuild-graltons-hall

The Devil’s in the Dance Hall:

https://www.edwinaguckian.com/the-devils-in-the-dance-hall/

00:00 They Once Made Dancing Illegal in Ireland

02:37 Meet Edwina Guckian

05:01 The Devil in the Dance Hall

06:00 How Dancing Became Illegal in Ireland

12:10 How Women Were Policed and Shamed

16:20 Why We’ve Stopped Dancing

19:28 How to Create a Safe Space to Dance

20:50 Inside The Devil in the Dance Hall

25:00 The Story of Jimmy Gralton

32:45 Gralton Reopens the Hall

34:35 The Hall Is Attacked and Burned Down

37:25 Why Edwina Is Bringing It Back

38:35 Dancing Brings Generations Together

40:20 The Rambling Project

42:43 Why We Need New Social Spaces

46:25 Bringing Generations Together

47:10 Rebuilding Community

50:50 If You See the Gap, Build It

52:00 Rebuilding Gralton’s Hall

57:20 How to Support Edwina’s Work

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What does the future of farming in Ireland look like?

Sophie Bell is a young farmer from County Cavan who took on the running of her family farm at just 17, while finishing her Leaving Cert.

Today, she’s balancing farming with a career in social media, speaking about agriculture across Ireland and Europe, and rethinking what it means to build a sustainable life from the land.

We talk about the pressure on farmers to have a second income, why farming can feel more like a culture than a career, and the barriers facing the next generation.

Sophie also shares what she learned from researching the impact of bovine TB on farmers, what it's like being a young woman in a traditionally male-dominated industry, and how social media has opened doors she never expected.

And then we get into what she's changing on the farm — moving away from commodity pricing and towards a model where she has more control over what the farm earns, how it operates, and where it goes next.

A conversation about farming, money, gender, social media, and what happens when you stop accepting that things have to be done the way they've always been done.

Support the podcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/HarrisonGardner

CONNECT WITH ME

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_harrisongardner

Website: https://www.harrisongardner.net/

Bookstore: https://www.harrisongardner.net/bookstore-1

Pre-order my new book HEAT-SHELTER-WATER-FOOD

https://www.harrisongardner.net/heat-shelter-water-food

Follow Sophie:

https://www.instagram.com/sophie_bell__?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&stkn=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==

00:00 – Teaser

00:55 – Introduction

02:47 – Sophie’s 56-Acre Farm in County Cavan

05:25 – Why Do Farmers Need a Second Income?

07:50 – The Next Generation of Farmers

10:10 – Passing the Farm to the Next Generation

13:15 – Who Gets Taught to Be a Farmer?

18:35 – Is Farming a Career or a Culture?

23:25 – How Social Media Changed Sophie’s Farm

26:35 – The Hidden Cost of Bovine TB

33:10 – “I Thought I Wasn’t Allowed to Be a Farmer”

35:47 – Taking Over the Farm at 17

38:42 – Being Taken Seriously as a Young Woman

45:37 – Advice for Young Women in Farming

48:08 – Why Farming Needs More Alternative Ideas

56:30 – Sophie’s Work With the EU and UN

01:03:19 – A Different Way to Make Farming Pay

01:06:10 – For the First Time, the Farm Isn’t Struggling

01:08:35 – The Future of Wool in Ireland

01:12:30 – Taking Back Control

01:14:10 – What Sustainable Farming Should Look Like

01:15:11 – Outro

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What can music do when the world feels divided?

For Clare Sands, it can be a way of bringing people together.

Clare is a sixth-generation fiddle player, singer and composer from Ireland. In this conversation, we talk about Irish culture, activism, Palestine, and the role music can play in starting difficult conversations.

Clare shares the story of swimming across the Bosphorus from Asia to Europe and raising around €12,000 for two Palestinian organisations with her sister. We talk about the pushback she has experienced when sharing Palestinian folk songs, and why she continues to use music to connect people across cultures and traditions.

We also explore the story behind the flag on Clare’s album artwork, her relationship with Irish history and folklore, and the importance of reclaiming symbols that can become divisive.

Along the way, we get into a bigger question: how do you get people to engage with difficult ideas in a way that feels welcoming?

Support the podcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/HarrisonGardner

CONNECT WITH ME

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_harrisongardner

Website: https://www.harrisongardner.net/

Bookstore: https://www.harrisongardner.net/bookstore-1

Pre-order my new book HEAT-SHELTER-WATER-FOOD

https://www.harrisongardner.net/heat-shelter-water-food

Website: claresands.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/claresandsceol/?hl=en

Substack: https://claresandsceol.substack.com/

00:00 Teaser — Why Was a Folk Song Too Much?

00:41 Introduction

03:00 Irish Music, Culture & Clare Sands’ Roots

07:20 Climate Change & Adapting to a Changing World

09:10 Irish Traditional Music & Creative Independence

12:35 Music, Activism & Palestinian Folk Songs

14:45 Irish Identity, Folklore & Siding With the Underdog

21:10 Swimming, Community & Connection

25:20 Swimming From Asia to Europe for Palestine

33:05 Using Music to Open Difficult Conversations

38:10 Irish Flags, Irish History & Reclaiming Identity

41:05 Music, Community & Connecting Across Borders

46:15 Bringing Music to Rural Communities

47:35 Small Audiences, Community & Connection

52:05 Clare Sands’ Music, New Album & Song of a Gael

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.