Galway Girls Irish Dance to Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You: The Story Behind the Video

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Wow, these girls are amazing. That’s what I wrote when I first posted this clip in 2017, and I stand by it.

The story behind it is even better. It involves a radio call-out, a Wexford grandmother and a night out with Saoirse Ronan.

Watch the Galway girls dance to “Shape of You”

Here’s the clip, filmed at the Claddagh on the edge of Galway city.

It’s called “Galway Girls Step for Ed”. It went up on YouTube on 22 January 2017, on a channel called Lynne Mc Nally. As of October 2026 it has about 3.4 million views.

The description says it shows eight dancers from the Hession School of Irish Dancing in Galway. The music starts with “Shape of You” and moves into “A Lovely Madness” by Beoga, a Northern Irish trad band. Hold that name. It comes back.

The Connacht Tribune reported that the girls were aged 16 to 18, from the city, Lackagh, Athenry and Tynagh. Their teacher was Gemma Carney at the Celine Hession School. They made up the routine themselves in a day.

The YouTube description doesn’t name the dancers, and I won’t guess. RTÉ places the school in Salthill, the seaside end of Galway city.

Why they danced: Ed’s call for céilí dancers

In January 2017, Ed went on Eoghan McDermott’s show on RTÉ 2fm and asked for “proper céilí dancers”. He wanted them for a music video he planned to shoot in Ireland, RTÉ reported.

Irish dancers took him at his word. Fusion Fighters, the Irish dance group run by dancer and teacher Chris Naish, started the hashtag #Step4Sheeran.

IrishCentral reported more than 100 entries on Instagram alone. Naish guessed there were as many again on Facebook and YouTube.

Within three days, the Connacht Tribune reported, it had about two million views across two posts.

From the Claddagh to the “Galway Girl” video

Ed noticed. RTÉ and the Connacht Tribune put the “Galway Girl” shoot on Tuesday 11 April 2017, and dancers from the Hession school were in it.

According to RTÉ, the girls only found out that evening the video was for Ed. He walked in while they were dancing.

One of their teachers, Deirdre Gallagher, told RTÉ that what you see in the video is “real”. One dancer had snapped her Achilles tendon the week before, so Ed signed her cast.

The Connacht Tribune listed the locations: O’Connor’s Famous Pub in Salthill, the Spanish Arch, the Long Walk and O’Connell’s Bar on Eyre Square.

Ed knew the city. His uncle ran a shop on Quay Street, and the paper said Ed visited Galway regularly as a teenager.

The video came out on 4 May 2017. RTÉ described it as a mostly point-of-view night out, with Saoirse Ronan as Ed’s date and a cameo from Tommy Tiernan.

Ed Sheeran’s Irish links

Nancy Mulligan, his Wexford grandmother

Ed’s best-known Irish roots are on his father’s side. His grandmother, Anne Mary Sheeran, née Mulligan, the Nancy of the song, came from Craanford near Gorey in Co. Wexford.

His grandfather, William “Bill” Sheeran, was a Protestant from the North. Ed has described him as Belfast-born.

Ed has said hardly anyone came to their wedding. They married in London in 1951 and moved back to Gorey in the 1980s, RTÉ reported.

That’s the story told in “Nancy Mulligan”, the other Irish song on ÷. Ed spent childhood holidays in Wexford. Nancy died on 25 April 2023, aged 98, RTÉ reported.

In August 2025 Ed played with Beoga at the Fleadh in Wexford town, RTÉ reported.

“Galway Girl” and Beoga

Ed told The Guardian his record label was “really, really against” “Galway Girl”, RTÉ reported.

The song is about meeting a fiddle player, and it name-checks Grafton Street. That’s in Dublin, of course. We’ll let it go.

Ed told The Irish Times the opening was inspired by Beoga’s fiddle player, Niamh Dunne. Niamh is from Limerick, so the Galway girl is a Limerick woman. She laughed it off when RTÉ came asking.

Beoga means “lively” in Irish. “Galway Girl” borrows their earlier tune “Minute 5”, and they play on “Nancy Mulligan” too, RTÉ reported.

The week Ed took over the Irish charts

On 10 March 2017, RTÉ reported, songs from ÷ filled the whole top 16 of the Irish singles chart, with “Nancy Mulligan” at No. 3.

“Shape of You” spent 14 weeks at No. 1 in Ireland in 2017, says the Official Charts Company. Only “Riverdance” had ever held the top spot longer, with 18 weeks in 1994. “Despacito” edged past Ed later that summer with 15.

What the dancers are doing: soft shoe, hard shoe and straight arms

Ed asked for céilí dancers, and there are eight Galway girls. Competition céilí dances typically have four, six or eight dancers, says the glossary of IDTANA, a North American teachers’ body.

The clip isn’t a traditional céilí dance, though. It’s the girls’ own routine.

Shoe	Sound and look	Dances
Soft shoe (ghillies for girls)	Light and quiet, high on the toes	Reel, slip jig, light jig
Hard shoe (fibreglass tips and heels)	Loud and percussive	Treble jig, hornpipe, set dances

A handy rule: if you can hear the feet over the music, it’s hard shoe. If the dancers seem to float, it’s soft shoe.

Why do Irish dancers keep their arms straight?

Nobody knows for certain. Two explanations come up most.

• One regional style won. The Irish Post says the Gaelic League taught the Munster style, with its rigid arms, and sidelined others like Galway sean-nós.
• Small kitchens. The same Irish Post piece mentions the theory that cramped cottages left no room to fling your arms about.

How Irish dance won the world, long before YouTube

On 30 April 1994, Riverdance was the seven-minute interval act at the Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin. Jean Butler and Michael Flatley led the dancers to music by Bill Whelan.

RTÉ Archives puts the audience at over 300 million viewers across Europe.

Skater Jason Brown took Riverdance onto the ice. Then there are the toilet Irish dancers, which is exactly what it sounds like.

#Step4Sheeran took off because the formula was simple: a few friends, a good tune and a good spot. The Claddagh, home of the Claddagh ring, is about as good a spot as you’ll get.

Can you start Irish dancing as an adult?

Yes. IDTANA says you can start at any age. Its adult category covers anyone who starts at 18 or older, or returns after five years out of youth competition.

Adults compete only against adults, so no 12-year-old world medallists.

Look for a school run by a TCRG, the teaching certificate awarded by CLRG (An Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha), the best-known Irish dance commission.

Many schools run adult classes, but it varies, so ring and ask.

Galway Girls and Ed Sheeran FAQ

Who are the Galway girls Irish dancing to “Shape of You”?

They’re in a fan clip, not Ed’s official video: eight dancers from the Hession School of Irish Dancing in Galway, filmed at the Claddagh in January 2017.

What music do the Galway girls dance to?

“Shape of You”, then Beoga’s “A Lovely Madness”, per the YouTube description.

Is Ed Sheeran Irish?

He grew up in England, but his paternal grandparents were Irish: Nancy from Co. Wexford and William from Northern Ireland. Beoga’s Eamon Murray told RTÉ Ed has Irish heritage on his mother’s side too.

Who is the Galway Girl?

Ed said the song’s opening was inspired by Niamh Dunne, Beoga’s fiddle player from Limerick. Saoirse Ronan plays his date in the video.

Where was the “Galway Girl” video filmed?

Mostly in Galway city in April 2017, including Salthill, the Spanish Arch and Eyre Square.

More from Ireland

• The Wild Atlantic Way Experience
• Facts About Ireland
• Irish Surnames
• How to Say Cheers in Irish
• Irish Slang Words

Did you enjoy watching these Galway girls? Tell me in the comments.

Featured photo: Shop Street, Galway, 2022 by Yair Haklai, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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