Then, suddenly, there was a gang of kings doing the circuit.” People had seen maybe a solo performance or duet. “It was a real shock to the scene,” Tracy recalls. She first entered Dublin’s drag scene as part of a drag king troupe called The Sham-Cocks, which formed during the Lesbian Arts Festival in 2003. Gringo O’Hara is, in fact, Tracy Ging, a 37-year-old Dubliner who has been performing as a drag king for seven years. Ringleader of a fetish-burlesque group known as The Pony Girls, the thickly moustachioed O’Hara is the ultimate alpha-male. “I love a woman in leather,” he tells the crowd, grinning to acknowledge his privileged position amongst the ladies.Īs O’Hara looks out into the audience, he knows he is the envy of every man in the room. He sighs in ecstasy, moving his gaze slowly from one to the next. Surrounding O’Hara are six women, each dressed in leather fetish gear, whips in hand. The outline in his tight trousers is easily distinguishable. Maeve Storey investigates the rising trend of drag kings in Ireland…Īs Gringo O’Hara moves across the stage, the spotlight drops on his bulky form.
