Maypole dancer

Maypole dancer b&w, originally uploaded by Esther Moliné.

A Maypole dancer from the Active Age Group, Drumreilly, Co Leitrim. I took this candid portrait at the 2011 Harold's Cross Community Festival on the 8th of May last. The Maypole dance is an old tradition at Harold's Cross that has recently been revived at the festival. Local historian Joe Curtis explains in his book about Harold's Cross that in the 14th century the Archbishop of Dublin maintained a gallows on the green of Harold's Cross where criminals were hanged. Later on, a Maypole replaced the gallows and was the centre of much merriment and dancing every May, until the practice ceased around the middle of the 19th century.