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Words and People in Dancing at Lughnasa

17 August 2024

Our September production of Dancing at Lughnasa is set in Ireland in 1936. Here are some people, words and some fun insults in the show that audiences might not be familiar with.

Dancing at Lughnasa is the story of the five Mundy sisters. Outside the village of Ballybeg, they battle poverty to raise seven-year-old Michael and care for their brother, ‘Uncle’ Jack.

During the Festival of Lughnasa, Pagan and Christian meet and collide. The sisters fight each other, love each other, dance, yearn and survive.

Performances from September 27 - October 6.

Information in this article is sourced from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film’s Dancing at Lughnasa Blog. 

Tickets and Show Info

References in order of appearance

  • “In memory of those five brave Glenties women.” 
    PAGE 4

    Brian Friel has brought up in interviews that Dancing at Lughnasa semiautobiographical. The five Glenties women he mentions are his mother’s sisters who “left Donegal years before in search for a better destiny.” The town of Ballybeg represents the town of Glenties, where his mother’s family is from

    • Lughnasa
      PAGE 4

      The festival of Lughnasa―celebrating Lugh, the Celtic god of the sun―is one of four of the major annual celebrations in ancient Ireland. It’s celebrated on the first of August to prepare for the beginning of the harvest season.

      Some of the major customs of the festival are sitting down for a family meal, berry-picking (particularly bilberries), and handfastings (trail marriages that would last a year and a day that could be temporary or permanent). There would also be great bonfires and the sacrificing of cattle.

      Even after Christianity was introduced to Ireland, people continued to celebrate with dancing and bonfires. Depending on locality, the festival can be celebrated between mid-July and mid-August.

      • Mundy
        PAGE 4

        The name “Mundy” is a common local derivation of the family name “McLoone,” which was Brain Friel’s mother’s maiden name.

        • Ballybeg
          PAGE 6

            Ballybeg is the name of the fictional town that’s just two miles away from the Mundy’s home. It’s an Anglicization of Baile Beag, meaning “Little Town.”

          • Donegal
            PAGE 6

            County Donegal is “something of a geographical and political anomaly” (Irish Times). Donegal is the northernmost county of Ireland, and practically hugs Northern Ireland to the rest of the island. It is one of the most isolated counties in Ireland, sharing one border with Northern Ireland and the other with Leitrim, Ireland. The women live in Northern Donegal, with their town being close to the Blue Stack Mountains.

          • British Army Chaplain 
            PAGE 7

            An all-officer corps that provides ordained clergy to minister to the British Army. In WWI, many Irish Chaplains were sent to Africa to replace French and German soldiers in the African mission fields, where they attempted to convert African natives to Catholicism. Chaplains, as a rule, are not allowed to carry weapons into battle. Their primary duties revolve around building up troop moral, and performing religious services for soldiers.

          • Wireless Set
            PAGE 9

            In reference to the wireless Marconi radio.

          • National School Teacher
            PAGE 9

            The Irish equivalent to public schools are National schools. They are a kind of primary school that is financed by the state, but administered by patrons and local representatives.

          • Marconi
            PAGE 10

            The name given to the Mundy’s radio after Guglielmo Marconi, a Nobel Prize-winning Italian electrical scientist. He was granted the world’s first patent for a system of wireless telegraphy, and developed the first transatlantic radio signal in 1901. The Marconi radios connected people from across the world in a way that had never been done before.

          • Ryanga, Uganda
            PAGE 10

            Uganda was under British control in WWI. British Army Chaplains were sent to Uganda to tend to the wounded British soldiers who were fighting in the East African Campaign.

          • East African Campaign
            PAGE 10

            A series of battles fought between Germany and Britain in colonial-inhabited Africa from August 8, 1914 to November 25, 1918. The conflict started when the British ship HMS Astrea bombed the wireless station at Dar-es-Salaam in German East Africa. The conflict involved European and African native soldiers fighting for either the British or German front for land territory in Africa.

          • Athlone
            PAGE 10

            A town on the River Shannon in the heart of the Republic of Ireland. Athlone was home of the first high power transmitting station in Ireland which was opened in February 1933.

          • Turf
            PAGE 11

            Also known as “peat,” turf is a pile of compressed fuel blocks used to heat the home in a fireplace. It’s usually cut from the bog (wet, muddy ground) that would be harvested as a primary heating material.

          • Abyssinia
            PAGE 11

            “Will you come to Abyssinia, will you come?/ Bring your own cup and saucer and a bun…”

            Italy invaded Abyssinia (Ethiopia) in October 1935. Mussolini thought this would be one of his first steps to building the next great Roman Empire. He hoped that the Abyssinian conflict would bring the Italian people together and help build the economy. Although Abyssinia had the League of Nations on its side, the country’s army couldn’t hold its own against the Italian troops or their technology (i.e. poison gas).

            This song is sung to the tune of “Roll Along Covered Wagon, Roll Along.” It’s a child’s tune, thought to have started by school children who would have heard the news over the radio.

          • “The British Grenadiers”
            PAGE 12

            A traditional marching song of the British grenadier military units that dates back to 1706 and is still used as a song of pride for Britain.

          • De Valera
            PAGE 12

            “Will you vote for De Valera, will you vote?/ If you don’t, we’ll be like Ghandi with his goat.”

            Sung to the same tune as “Abyssinia,” this song hints to the audience that the sisters are in support of Eamonn de Valera for a united Ireland that was free of Britain.

            Eamon de Valera was Ireland’s first prime minister who lead a series of Irish nationalist initiatives to create a free, independent Irish state. He was involved in the failed 1916 Easter Rising (an Irish rebellion against the British government), and later became president of Sinn Fein, the oldest political movement in Ireland of Republicans who worked for the right of Irish people to attain national self-determination.
            De Valera later founded a new Republican political party, Fianna Fail, as an opposition party to the 1921 Boundary Agreement between Great Britain and Ireland. He would go on to be a controversial leader, creating legislation as Prime Minister and President of Ireland that amended the constitution that would limit women’s rights and create an emphasis on the Catholic church.

          • “…like Ghandi with his goat.”
            PAGE 12

            A reference to the 1932 Merrie Melodies cartoon “I Love a Parade” where Ghandi plays a flute which prompts his goat to start dancing. India (which was under British rule) represents England and the goat represents Ireland. The song implicates that not voting for De Valera is a vote for British control.

          • Uncle Bill
            PAGE 13

            “Uncle Bill from Baltinglass”

            A reference to William Thomas Cosgrave who politically aligned with Fine Gael, the United Ireland Party, which was for the 1921 treaty between Ireland and Great Britain.

          • Quinine
            PAGE 13

            In Africa in the 1930s and 1940s, people would take quinine if they had “a touch of malaria.” If not used for only severe cases, the drug is too potent and can result in giving patients black water fever (blackening of urine), dizziness, ringing in the ears, skin rash and visual disturbances.

          • Whin Bush
            PAGE 13

            Whin Bush

            Rich, yellow wildflowers that grow in Ireland in spiny bushes with rigid thorns, which we know locally as gorse bushes.

          • Lough Anna
            PAGE 14

            A lake in County Donegal, Ireland. It’s about 5.3 km or 3.3 miles outside of Glenties (which is Ballybeg in the play).

          • Miraculous Medal
            PAGE 14

            A small medal or pendant, also known as the Medal of the Immaculate Conception, with the Virgin Mary
            on it. The medal’s original design originated from Saint Catherine Labouré’s vision of the Blessed Mother in 1830, where she was charged with the God-given mission to create a medal to give hope to the people of France and the world.

            The medal has Mary standing on a globe, crushing a snake beneath with twelve stars. The back side of the medal has twelve stars encircling a large “M”with a cross above it and two flaming hearts below them: one is constricted with thorns, and the other has a sword piercing it.

          • “The Isle of Capri”
            PAGE 15

            A popular song in Ireland, sung by Frank Sinatra. The Isle of Capri is an Italian island located south of Naples.

          • War of Independence
            PAGE 17

            Also known as the Anglo-Irish War, the War of Independence was a guerrilla conflict fought between the Irish Republican Army (for the Irish Republic) and the British security forces in Ireland from 1919 to 1921.

          • Harvest Dance
            PAGE 19

            A reference to the dancing to celebrate the Pagan, Celtic Lughnasa Festival.

          • Annie M.P. Smithson
            PAGE 19

            A dedicated Nationalist writer who published journal articles in favor of the Republican front, but is most heavily remembered for her romantic novels, which were woven with Nationalist tones.

          • Cod-Liver Oil
            PAGE 19

            A vitamin D supplement made from the oils found in fish liver.

          • Corns of the Feet
            PAGE 21

            Painful calluses of thickened skin that can be found between the toes and on the soles of the feet.

          • Holly Tree
            PAGE 23

            An evergreen tree that bears holly. A Celtic symbol of good luck, protection and that stubborn victories can be won.

          • Indian Meal
            PAGE 24

            Another name for cornmeal, or maize meal, that was imported from America in the 1800s to assist Ireland when potatoes got scarce.

          • Soda Bread
            PAGE 24

            Bread that is leavened with baking soda instead of yeast.

          • Wild Woodbine
            PAGE 24

            A popular brand of unfiltered cigarettes that had strong, potent smoke that could be difficult to inhale.

          • Bilberries
            PAGE 24

            Found in Ireland that are a cross between blueberries and blackberries. Is known to help strengthen vision.

          • Military Two-Step
            PAGE 29

            A popular dance across Europe that is danced to a two step, 6/8 rhythm.

          • The Mason’s Apron
            PAGE 30

            A traditional Irish song that was originally an 18th century English tune.

          • Gander
            PAGE 33

            An insult that means you’re calling someone a “simpleton” or an “idiot.”

          • Chappie
            PAGE 36

            Another word for “chap.”

          • Morris Cowley
            PAGE 36

            A mid-size, 1915 two seater car. The first Morris car to be sold with electric lights.

          • Dublin, Ireland
            PAGE 37

            Where the Easter Rising took place—Irishmen occupied the Post Office there. Dublin was the largest city in Ireland and a hub of culture.

          • Gramophone
            PAGE 38

            A machine used for recording and playing songs off of records.

          • Magpie
            PAGE 40

            A type of crow that lives across the world in Asia and Europe. They are usually black and white and are considered to be one of the most intelligent animals in the world. They have a tendency to steal shiny things, giving them the omen of false ideas or perceptions. It’s considered unlucky in the UK to come across a single magpie.

          • Wales
            PAGE 41

            The 1930s market crash in the United States heavily affected Wales, especially Southern Wales that relied heavily on heavy industries (i.e. steel production). By 1938 the unemployment rate in coal, cotton, shipbuilding and steel was twice what it was in other areas of unemployment. It wasn’t unusual for Welshmen to aimlessly stand on street corners.

          • Francisco Franco
            PAGE 41

            Francisco Franco, the fascist, nationalistic dictator of Spain from 1939-1975. His mission was to uphold the image of a “Catholic Spain” against godless Communism. Mussolini, Hitler and the Catholic Church supported Franco throughout the Spanish Civil War (July 1936-April 1939) as his Nationalist army fought off the Republicans. The Nationalists won the war, keeping Franco in power.

          • Saint Patrick
            PAGE 44

            Patron saint of Ireland for converting Ireland to Christianity in the AD 400s. St. Patrick was most well-known for the story of how he drove all the snakes out of Ireland.

          • Anointed
            PAGE 45

            Refers to the Anointing of the Sick, one of the seven holy sacraments in Catholicism. It is given to someone who is terminally ill or close to death. The sacrament is meant to strengthen the person in extreme illness or to prepare the dying for heaven. If the person is close to dying, a priest or Bishop will perform penance to reconcile the dying’s sins.

          • Everybody's doing it...
            PAGE 48

            “Everybody’s doing it, doing it, doing it./Picking their noses and chewing it, chewing it, chewing it…”

            A popular children’s song from 1912-1914. The song references the Turkey Trot (a dance) which was all ‘the rage’ in the early 1910s.

          • Kampala
            PAGE 50

            The cosmopolitan capital city of Uganda where English and Swahili are the official languages and Christianity is one of the three major religions (included among indigenous religions and Islam). Kampala was home to a missionary hospital that was built in 1897.

          • Tattoo
            PAGE 52

            A rhythmic tapping or drumming.

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