You'll Never Get Ireland in American: Irish Traditional Music and Dance in St. Louis, Missouri

Abstract

St. Louis, Missouri boasts a small but active Irish-American community whose historic roots stretch back to the early nineteenth century. Clearly eclipsed by Boston, Chicago, and New York City (among others) in both immigrant and American-born Irish, St. Louis has nevertheless distinguished itself in the last decade as an important center of traditional Irish music and dance in America. A number of St. Louis' “movers and shakers” in Irish music and dance have participated in Missouri's Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program, among them master Patrick Gannon, Helen Gannon, Niall Gannon, Larry McNally, and apprentices Gregory Krone and Eileen Gannon. This essay is based in large part on interviews with these talented and dedicated traditional artists.