Hullachan Pro H3 – Irish Dance Reel/Ghillie Shoes
The Hullachan Pro H3 ghillies were designed from the ground up for the demands of today’s Irish dancing — higher leaps, faster footwork, and long hours of practice. Most soft shoes simply wrap the foot. The H3 works with it. Its signature feature is a secondary eyelet placed close to the arch of the foot, which lets a dancer use the laces to pull the body of the shoe up snugly under her own arch. The result is a shoe that supports the arch during a dance and showcases it to the adjudicators at the same time.
If your dancer has moved past her first pair of soft shoes and is starting to compete — or is practicing enough that her feet ache after class — this is the step up worth taking.
Why choose the Hullachan Pro H3 ghillies for arch support?
In a standard ghillie, the lacing crosses the top of the foot and stops there. Once the leather softens, the middle of the shoe can go slack, and a dancer with high arches gets no help at all. The H3’s extra arch eyelet changes the geometry: the laces anchor lower on the shoe, so tightening them lifts the arch of the shoe up into the arch of the foot. Dancers with high arches finally get support that matches their foot, and every dancer gets a cleaner arch line on stage — the pointed, molded look teachers ask for.
How do the Clever Insoles protect a dancer’s feet?
Irish dance is hard on feet and joints — it’s leaps and landings on the ball of the foot, over and over. The H3 is fitted with Clever Insoles, a dual-layer cushioning system at the toe and heel built from a combination of materials that absorbs the impact shock from leaps and advanced footwork. It’s not a bulky athletic insole; the shoe still feels like a ghillie. It just takes the sting out of the landings, which matters more with every extra hour of practice a week.
What keeps the heel from slipping?
A common complaint with soft shoes is the heel working loose mid-reel. The H3 is built 4mm higher at the back with a deeper heel seat, so the shoe cups the heel instead of sitting under it. Combined with the arch lacing, the shoe stays put through turns and cuts without needing to be over-tightened across the top of the foot.
How is an Irish ghillie different from a ballet slipper?
They look similar at a glance, but they’re built for different jobs. A ballet slipper is cut low and simple, made to disappear on the foot. A ghillie laces up through loops along the sides, so it can be drawn much tighter and hold the foot through the percussive, driving footwork of Irish dance. The H3’s leather is softer than the original Hullachan design, with a slight stretch that molds to the foot over the first few wears — snug like a ballet shoe, but with structure a slipper doesn’t have. If your dancer does both, she’ll need both; we carry ballet slippers from Bloch and Capezio and can fit her for each in the same visit.
Materials & Construction
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Upper | Soft leather — softer than the original Hullachan, with slight stretch for a molded fit |
| Lining | Red suede |
| Insole | Clever Insoles — dual-layer impact cushioning at toe and heel |
| Lacing | Standard eyelets plus a secondary arch eyelet for lace-up arch support |
| Heel | 4mm higher at the back with a deeper heel seat |
| Widths | Regular and Plus-Wide |
| SKU | H3 (Hullachan Pro, distributed by Rutherford Products) |
Care Instructions
| Step | Instruction |
|---|---|
| Cleaning | Wipe the leather with a soft, dry cloth after wear; spot clean only |
| Drying | Air dry at room temperature, away from direct heat or sunlight |
| Storage | Keep in a breathable shoe bag; let shoes dry fully between classes |
| Do not | Machine wash, soak, or dry on a heater — heat stiffens and cracks leather |
Sizing Guide — Hullachan Pro H3 (UK Sizing)
Here’s the most important thing to know: the H3 uses UK sizing, not US shoe sizing. The uppers are made in Ireland, and ordering your dancer’s US street-shoe size will get you a shoe that’s much too big. As a rough guide, Rutherford Products (the US distributor) recommends converting from your US dress-shoe size like this:
| US Dress-Shoe Size | UK Ghillie/Reel Size Adjustment |
|---|---|
| Child 11 – 13½ | Go up ½ size |
| 1 – 1½ | Same number (even) |
| 2 – 4 | Go down ½ to 1 full size |
| 4½ – 8½ | Go down 1½ sizes |
| Adult 9 – 11 | Go down 1 size |
The H3 is available in UK sizes Child 12 through Adult 8, in Regular and Plus-Wide widths. Ghillie leather stretches noticeably with wear — often half a size or more — so the right fit at purchase is as snug as is tolerable. For fast-growing young dancers, a little growing room is fine, but never more than half a size: a loose ghillie looks sloppy on stage and teaches bad habits, and teachers notice.
Conversion charts are a guide only, and dance shoes are not sized like street shoes. We strongly recommend an in-store fitting at August Muse — width, arch height, and stretch all change which size is right, and we’ll fit both widths side by side.
Best For
- Irish dancers stepping up from a beginner soft shoe to their first serious ghillie
- Dancers with high arches who aren’t getting support from standard ghillies
- Competitive dancers who want a supported arch that still reads beautifully on stage
- Students practicing enough hours that impact protection matters
- Feet that need a wide fit — the Plus-Wide width is hard to find locally
But for a dancer who’s committed, the arch support and cushioning are the difference between a shoe she wears and a shoe that works with her. Sizing is the tricky part, since these run on UK sizes — skip the guesswork and bring her in. We stock the full range, both widths, at our shop in downtown Elizabethton.
Available at August Muse
The Hullachan Pro H3 Irish Dance Reel/Ghillie Shoes are available in store at August Muse in downtown Elizabethton, TN, in UK sizes Child 12 – Adult 8, in Regular and Plus-Wide widths. Stop in for a professional fitting, or call ahead and we’ll have both widths ready to try.
