The seven-strong group are a huge social media success, leading to shows right in front of Joe Biden and at the Stade de France
‘Our St Patrick’s Day is like Christmas to Michael Bublé,” says Dara Kelly of the viral Irish dancing group Cairde. “Three years ago, it was so much more relaxed and chill for everyone. But now, it’s debatably the busiest time of the year for us.” The seven dancers from the west of Ireland have just returned from the US where they performed at their most prestigious gig yet: a private reception at the White House with Joe Biden sat in the front row.
Cairde, which is Irish for “friend”, is made up of Dara Kelly and Ronan O’Connell, both 20, Ethan Quinton, Stephen McGuinness, Brian Culligan and Seamus Morrison, all 21, and Francis Fallon, 22. After many years of Irish dancing competitively, the group of best friends first came up with the idea for Cairde in 2017. But it wasn’t until they made a TikTok account in July 2020 that it became official. “We were literally doing it for the craic,” Culligan says. “And then once we had a few big videos, we said, ‘Let’s actually really commit ourselves to this.’” The dancers, who live together in Galway, now have more than 3m followers across all their social media platforms.
