WATCH: Spraoi dances An Dearg Due in spooktacular parade
Spraoi, 'Dearg Due' Fire and Shadows procession. Photo: Joe Evans
Waterford did the dance of The Dearg Due on Friday night, October 25, as Spraoi presented 'Fire and Shadows'; a phenomenal display that entwined ghostly apparitions, wailing banshees, and local folklore.
At around 7.30pm, scores of spectators gathered at Cathedral Square, just outside the Irish Wake Museum, to watch the procession. View the video of the event
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The parade was inspired by the hellish tale of An Dearg Due; a beautiful woman who was sold off by her cruel father to marry a brutish Chieftain, despite her love for another man.
The crowd heard how she died soon after the forced marriage, but returned to haunt the earth and all who betrayed her.
The rush of blood made her strong and invigorated and she began hunting for new targets, luring men into dark corners and feasting on their lifeforce.
An Dearg Due floated aloft the crowds like a pale angel of doom, gesturing towards onlookers in keening despair.
She was preceded by three wailing banshees, their cries heard above the cheers of the crowd.
The procession left Cathedral Square, winding through haunted Lady Lane before arriving at Jenkins Lane for the blood-curdling finale.
The wall of Jenkins Lane was cast in a blood-red light, and at the base of the wall spectres and wild monsters danced in preparation for the arrival of An Dearg Due.
An Dearg Due herself, now covered in blood, floated up and down the walls above a fiery spectacle, as the dancing and music intensified below.7 As it came to a crushing crescendo, it was clear that Spraoi has made a terrifying triumph out of 'Fire and Shadows'.
See more photos from the event here.
