What is Fays Irish Dancing Shoes (fays-shoes.com)?

Updated

Fays Irish Dancing Shoes is a Dublin-based maker of handmade Irish dancing shoes, operating online at fays-shoes.com. The site is the brand's own shop and information hub: you can browse and buy heavy shoes and light shoes, read about the company's history and workshop, find distributors, and contact the team directly. It is aimed at Irish dancers and their families, teachers, and trade or wholesale buyers rather than general footwear shoppers.

What the brand is

Fays has been making Irish dancing shoes in Dublin since 1980, and the site describes the company as a worldwide leader in manufacturing high-quality Irish dancing footwear. Its shoes are handmade, and the brand states it has supplied dancers with Riverdance and Lord of the Dance.

That history matters if you are choosing between makers: the site positions Fays on tradition, durability, and craftsmanship rather than on being a budget or fashion-first option.

What you can buy

The shop is organised around the two main categories of Irish dance footwear:

  • Heavy shoes — the hard shoes used for hard-shoe (treble) dancing.
  • Light shoes — the soft shoes used for light-shoe (reel) dancing.

The site also announces a newer model, Gavin by Fay's, created with teacher and costume maker Gavin Doherty. Fays describes it as blending the brand's existing quality, durability, and craftsmanship with a new look, shape, and fit — useful to know if you already know how standard Fays shoes fit and want to compare.

The homepage shows a basket ("No products in the basket"), so ordering happens on the site itself. The page evidence does not list prices, currencies, or payment methods, so check the individual product pages for current pricing and checkout options before buying.

Where to buy, depending on where you live

Fays sells both directly and through distributors, and the site handles geography explicitly:

Your situation Where to start
Buying for yourself, any location Shop the heavy or light shoe sections on fays-shoes.com
Based in the US The site has a dedicated button linking to Fay's in the USA
Want a local stockist Use the Distributors page to find ways to get Fays shoes in your region
Buying in bulk or reselling Use the Trade Customers page for wholesale enquiries

If you are in the US, going through Fay's USA is likely to be simpler than ordering across the Atlantic — the site treats it as a separate destination rather than just another shipping option.

Beyond the shop

The site is also a reference point for the brand:

  • Our History — how Fays has made shoes in Dublin since 1980.
  • Workshop — the making side of the business.
  • News — product launches and updates, such as the Gavin by Fay's release.
  • Contact Us — 54B Lower Dorset Street, Dublin 1, Ireland, D01 E278; phone +353 1 855 5421; email [email protected].
  • Policies — shipping, returns, privacy, cookies, and terms of use are all linked in the footer.

There is also an Instagram feed embedded on the homepage, though the page shows an error message about the feed that is only visible to WordPress admins — so if the feed appears blank, that is a site-side issue, not something you did.

Practical things to know before you order

  • Sizing and fit are the main risk with dance shoes. The site does not publish a sizing guide in the material available here, so if you are between sizes or new to the brand, ask Fays or a distributor directly using the contact details above.
  • Check shipping and returns before checkout. Both pages exist in the footer; read them if you are ordering internationally or are unsure about fit.
  • The site uses cookies and asks you to accept or manage them on arrival. Necessary cookies are always on; others are optional.
  • Prices are not shown in the homepage content. Treat any figure you see elsewhere as unverified until you see it on the product page.