Gardiner Brothers Texas Hold ’Em: The Viral Irish Dance Video

The Gardiner Brothers: quick facts

Who: Michael (born 1995) and Matthew (born 1999) Gardiner, Irish dancers and choreographers.
From: born in Colorado to Irish parents, raised in Clarinbridge, Co. Galway, from 2006.
Titles: both are multiple Irish dancing world champions, and they won their world titles in the same year.
The viral video: Irish dancing in cowboy hats to Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em” in 2024, viewed over 40 million times on TikTok alone.
Day job: both have danced with Riverdance on tour around the world.

When Beyoncé released her country album in 2024, the whole world started line dancing to “Texas Hold ‘Em”. Then two brothers from Galway put on cowboy hats and showed everyone how it’s really done, with Irish hard shoes.

The result is one of the most joyful Irish dancing videos on the internet.

Who are the Gardiner Brothers?

Michael and Matthew Gardiner were born in Colorado to Irish parents and started Irish dancing at the age of five. Soon after their first class, their parents took them to see Riverdance, and they were hooked.

In 2006 the family moved home to Clarinbridge, Co. Galway, where the boys trained with the Hession School of Dance. They went on to become two of the most decorated dancers of their generation: both are multiple world champions, and they made Irish dancing history by winning their world titles in the same year. Matthew alone has won around 30 major championship titles.

Both brothers joined Riverdance, touring the world since auditioning in 2015, from the 25th anniversary show in Dublin to tours across the UK and North America. Riverdance is the show that made them want to dance in the first place.

Beyoncé meets Irish dancing

In February 2024, Beyoncé surprised everyone by releasing “Texas Hold ‘Em”, the lead single from her country album Cowboy Carter. It shot to number one, and line-dance videos flooded social media.

The Gardiner Brothers’ take was different. In cowboy hats and jeans, they matched every beat of the song with sharp, fast, perfectly synchronised Irish footwork. It’s cheeky, it’s slick, and it’s very hard to watch only once. On TikTok alone, the video has been viewed more than 40 million times, and it was picked up by news sites across the US.

One comment summed up the reaction perfectly: viewers never thought they’d see Irish step dancing to Beyoncé singing country, and now they never wanted to see anything else.

They even followed it up with a sequel in the desert:

Why their videos work

World-class skill made to look easy. The footwork is championship level, but they make it look like fun.
Brilliant song choices. Pairing Irish dance with pop, country and chart hits introduces it to people who would never search for “Irish dancing”.
Two brothers, perfectly in sync. There’s something hugely satisfying about two people moving as one.
Personality. They’re clearly having the time of their lives, and it’s infectious.

With millions of followers, the Gardiner Brothers have become two of the most recognisable faces of a new wave of Irish dance, alongside groups like Cairde. In 2025 they were also recognised at the TikTok Awards UK and Ireland.