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EnglishWhat Is the History of Fay's Irish Dancing Shoes?
Updated
Fay's has been making Irish dancing shoes in Dublin since 1980, and the company still describes itself as a handmade, family-rooted workshop rather than a mass producer. If you want the short version: it is a Dublin-based shoemaker that has spent four decades building heavy and light dance shoes by hand, and it supplies dancers who perform in shows such as Riverdance and Lord of the Dance. The detail below is drawn from the company's own website.
The founding story
According to the site, Fay's began making Irish dancing shoes in Dublin in 1980. That date is the anchor of the brand's identity — the "History" page exists specifically to explain "our history and heritage," and the homepage repeats the same origin line.
The company positions itself around three claims:
- Handmade construction — shoes are described as handmade rather than factory-line products.
- Traditional craft — the workshop approach is presented as a continuation of shoemaking craft, not a modern industrial process.
- Durability — the tagline "Built to Dance, Built to Last" frames longevity as a core selling point.
From workshop to worldwide supplier
Fay's states it is "proud to be the worldwide leaders in the manufacture of high quality Irish Dancing shoes." That is the company's own claim, not an independent ranking, so treat it as positioning rather than a verified market statistic.
What the site does show concretely is international reach:
- A distributors page points buyers to ways of getting Fay's shoes "in your part of the world."
- A trade customers section invites wholesale enquiries, indicating the brand sells both to individual dancers and to shops.
- A separate Fay's USA site is linked for customers "Based in the US?", suggesting a distinct American operation or distribution arm.
The performance connection is also part of the brand story: the site describes Fay's as "famous suppliers of Riverdance and Lord of the Dance dancers." That association is used to signal that the shoes are built for stage-level demands.
The workshop and the craft
The site's navigation includes a dedicated Workshop page alongside History, which tells you the brand treats how the shoes are made as a selling point in its own right. The emphasis throughout is on hand manufacture — the idea that a person, not a production line, builds the shoe.
A more recent chapter is the Gavin by Fay's shoe, launched "in collaboration with leading teacher and costume maker Gavin Doherty." The company describes it as blending "Fay's world-renowned quality, durability and craftmanship, with a stylish new look, shape and fit." This shows the brand still develops new models rather than only reproducing older ones.
What this means if you're buying
The history matters mainly for what it implies about the product:
| Claim on the site | What it suggests for a buyer |
|---|---|
| Making shoes in Dublin since 1980 | Long-standing, specialist maker rather than a general footwear brand |
| Handmade | Less standardised than mass-produced shoes; fit and finish come from craft |
| "Built to Last" | Durability is the intended trade-off against a lower price |
| Suppliers to Riverdance / Lord of the Dance | Designed for heavy stage use |
| Distributors + Fay's USA | You may not have to order from Dublin directly |
If you are outside Ireland, the practical next step is the Distributors page or the Fay's USA link if you are in the United States. For wholesale or shop enquiries, the Trade Customers section is the relevant entry point. The site does not publish prices on the pages summarised here, so check the individual shoe pages or a distributor for current cost and shipping.