Irish dance shoes are available in both a hard and soft shoe style. The hard shoes have a tip and heel that are made of fiberglass or a compound resin which allows the dancer to make clicking and stomping sounds while dancing and provide the acoustic rhythm that is often identified with Irish dance. Soft shoes utilize a leather ghillie which is open and laced on the top and fits to the dancers foot. Many dancers often equate the soft shoe to a ballet slipper that is used in other styles of dance. Boys wear a different style of soft shoe which has a heel on it and in many ways resembles a jazz shoe.

With these tools of the trade, an Irish dancer is able to mesmerize us with their art as they glide like fairies through the forest and their rhythm of dance connects us once again to the heartbeat of Ireland.