Irish people have always loved to play musical instruments, to sing, to dance and to do so with others even in times of strict conservative religious observance. Whether it was the  marching tin whistle, brass or pipe ‘n’ drum bands of factory, school, military or political movements; the spirited hooleys in kitchens and barns; the dancing at the crossroads and in the ballrooms of the first few decades of the 1900s; the céilí (céilithe) and ‘Big Band’ sounds of the parochial halls of the 1940s and 1950s; the ‘jiving’ and ‘rock and rolling’ of the ‘Showband’ era in the dance halls and carnival marquee tents of the 1960s to mid 1970s; the pub trad music seisiúns (seisiúin) and discothèques of the 1970s-1980s; the open air festivals and dance clubs of the mid 1980s and beyond, music and lively social entertainment have been an integral part of the cultural fabric of Ireland.