It’s almost St Patrick’s Day – the national day of Ireland that’s been adopted around the world as an excuse for a good old-fashioned party.
And in celebration of all things quintessentially Irish, we’re remembering how more than 1,600 people staged the ultimate Riverdance performance to set a record that’s gone unchallenged for over a decade.
Before Abhann Productions (Ireland) came along, the record for longest ‘Riverdance’ line was being repeatedly broken.
The record stood at 116 people in 2006 and increased steadily, with a new attempt happening almost every year.
But the competition seemingly came to an end in 2013 when Abhann Productions took to the banks of River Liffey in Dublin with 1,693 dancers.
Together, they smashed the previous record of 652 people in Nashville, Tennessee, USA, and nobody since has taken the title from them.
The group, led by Jean Butler and Padraic Moyles, included 115 dancers from famous theatrical show Riverdance.
They were joined by dancers from schools from 44 different countries around the world, who came together to form a line that stretched 1 km (0.62 mi) along the north and south banks of the river.
Thousands of people cheered them on throughout the epic performance.
Jean, who was the lead dancer at the first ever Riverdance performance in 1994, told reporters at the time: “Riverdance has played a big role in my life but it has also played a big part in bringing the joy of Irish dance and music to many people throughout the world.”
The caption for the video on the official Riverdance YouTube account adds: “A sincere thank you to all who made it happen - but most especially all the 1,693 record-breaking dancers from 44 countries whose enthusiasm and energy made the day and broke the record! Thank you!”
Other Irish dancing records:
• The largest traditional Irish dance took place in Dublin, Ohio, USA, on 4 August 2007 and involved 10,036 participants
• The most Irish dancing heel clicks in 30 seconds is 191, performed by Benedict Devlin (UK) on the set of Guinness World Records – Smashed in London, UK, on 23 April 2009
• The most 1-2-3 Irish dance steps in 30 seconds is 43, performed by Ben Carolan (Ireland) on the set of Elev8 in Dublin, Ireland, on 3 August 2012
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