Irish Dance Documentation for the Archive: A Personal Reflection on Irish-German Connections and Intellectual Inheritances

In 2003, UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) established its Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Prior to this, however, different communities and institutions in specific regions and countries in Europe and other parts of the world had made efforts to document and preserve aspects of their intangible cultural heritage for sociocultural or political reasons. Notions of preservation were, for example, integral to the collections of traditional music, song, and dance undertaken by numerous nation states, or would-be nation states, from the eighteenth century for purposes of constructing and promoting cultural and national identities. Ireland was one of these aspiring nation states and traditional dance played a significant role in this cultural and political representation.