AN IRISH DANCE group showcased the best of Ennis in Christmas and went viral in the process with their fairytale video from O’Connell Street.
Cairde which has seven members, two of which hail from Co Clare, delivered once again when it came to dancing through the streets of Ennis during the festive period.
On Christmas Eve, they brought O’Connell Street in Ennis to a standstill when dancing to ‘Fairytale of New York’ adding to the festive mood in the county town.
Their subsequent video shared on Cairde’s social media has been viewed by over fifteen million people and has received more than 242,800 likes on TikTok and 239,000 likes on Instagram.
Among the members of Cairde are Lissycasey’s Brian Culligan and Stephen McGuinness from Ennis who both feature in this video alongside Galway native Francis Fallon. Other members include, Ethan Quinton, Dara Kelly, Seamus Morrison and Ronan O’Connell. Indeed the group’s name is after an old coffee shop in Barrack St, ‘Cairde’ which has since closed and was where the lads used to meet
🎅Cairde displayed the ‘Best of Ennis’ at Christmas with their viral fairytale festive video on O’Connell Street.
📲Full story: https://t.co/mP7RiW2yEd pic.twitter.com/vDOUS4gAir
— The Clare Echo (@ClareEcho) December 28, 2024
This was Cairde’s third year in a row producing a video to ‘Fairytale of New York’ from Ennis. Brian told The Clare Echo, “Two of us are from Clare but spend such little time here because of the international tours we do that we’ve made it a tradition to bring a bit of Cairde to Ennis every Christmas”.
He added, “This year we were down to three members in the video as we had to call off filming on the date we had originally planned due to the rain but I think the buzz of Christmas Eve definitely comes across in the video so it was probably a blessing in disguise to not film until then”.
How Ennis looks has added to the success of the video, Brian believed. “Our Fairytale videos have performed well all three years but this year has been really exceptional. It’s been seen by over 15 million people across our platforms so far in the couple of days since it’s been posted. Ennis looks like something straight out of a Hallmark Christmas movie. The video just screams ‘Irish Christmas’ and I really think that’s what has led to it performing so well”.
Officially formed in Ennis during Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in 2017, Cairde began to take flight during the pandemic when the group joined TikTok and their dancing videos really began to take flight. They are the most popular Irish dancing group on TikTok and have gained a strong following outside of Ireland including the United States of America, the United Kingdrom, France, Russia and the Phillippines.
They have performed on many shows including The Late Late Show on RTÉ, ABC’s Good Morning America and ITV’s This Morning while their exploits have also been visible from Times Square in New York City. They have also performed for US President, Joe Biden in The White House.
