The young people that are killed in this book are step-dancers. Step dance is the generic term for dance styles in which the footwork is the most important part of the dance. Limb movements and styling are either restricted or considered irrelevant. Irish stepdance is a world-renowned form of step dance that has worldwide competitions. The earliest feis, or competition, occurred in 1897. It descends from traditional Irish dance, but global popularity of the Riverdance troupe significantly altered its competitive form from traditional Irish standards. Both traditional and more modern competitive styles are characterized by the use of specific shoes and by costumes that can be remarkably elaborate.
These dancing troupes take part in feis, which is what Katie attends in the last chapters. A Feis is a traditional Gaelic arts and culture festival. When competitors begin to dance in these competitions, they traditionally wear a dance costume decided on by their dance school. When these students reach a competition level decided on by the dance school, they have can design or choose a costume of their own. Girls wear ornate dresses with long sleeves and short skirt. The skirt panels are sometimes stiffened with cardboard inserts, but ballet-like “soft-skirts” have become the norm. They usually wear their hair curled, in a wig, in a bun wig or just down. Boys usually wear a dress shirt, tie and/or vest, and dress pants or a kilt.
The feis in the book takes place in Cork’s Opera House.
I was a bit unsure about how the names for the different areas in a theatre were called. So in this book we learn some of the names.
Dress Circle: the first level of seats above the main floor in a theatre.
Stalls: The stalls are ‘ground level’ seating – the bottom tier of an auditorium.
Balcony/gallery: Balconies or galleries: one or more raised seating platforms towards the rear of the auditorium.
Boxes: a box (also known as loge)[1] is a small, separated seating area in the auditorium or audience for a limited number of people for private viewing of a performance or event.
Davy and the others are involved in political conflicts as they believe in one single Ireland. So they are part of what they call the authentic IRA. The Real Irish Republican Army or Real IRA (RIRA), also called the New IRA (NIRA) since 2012, is a dissident Irish republican paramilitary group and internationally-designated terrorist organization which aims to bring about a united Ireland. It formed in 1997 following a split in the Provisional IRA by dissident members, who rejected the IRA’s ceasefire that year. he Real IRA has also been involved in vigilantism, mainly against drug dealers and organised crime gangs. In Dublin in particular it has been accused of extortion and engaging in feuds with these gangs.
Katie visits St Colman’s Cathedran and takes confession. The Cathedral Church of St Colman, usually known as Cobh Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Cobh, Ireland. It is the cathedral church of the Diocese of Cloyne. It overlooks Cork harbour from a prominent position.
The name given to the Irish Prime Miniser is Taoiseach. Leo Varadkar TD is the current Taoiseach; he took office on 14 June 2017.
There is a mention to Dail, which is the Lower House of the Irish parliament. Dáil Éireann is the lower house, and principal chamber, of the Oireachtas (Irish legislature), which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann (the upper house). It currently consists of 158 members.
Anglesea Street is where the garda station is.
One of the clues to find the identity of the little girl is the bracelet she is wearing. The bracelet comes from the accessories from reborn babies, which are dolls which look like real children. A reborn doll is a manufactured doll that has been transformed by an artist to resemble a human infant with as much realism as possible. The process of creating a reborn doll is referred to as reborning and the doll artists are referred to as reborners.
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