There were female jazz bands in Ireland during the 1920s, and jazz music and dances were quite popular in the free state. In a dance band competition at the Plaza Ballroom in Dublin in 1929, two of the six band finalists were led by women.

People often think of jazz in this country as something condemned by the church, and while that did happen , it wasn't really until the 1930s when jazz was already well established here.

Dr Elaine Sisson, Senior Lecturer in Visual Culture at IADT joins guest host Tom Dunne to discuss.