Irish Dance as a Family Passion with National Champions

"Grandma Jane" with Megan Ferrara

from Harney (MA)

Sisters and dancers Abbey, Berkley and Tinsley Griffin from Glor na Daire (GA)
Grandmother Jean Mullane with Godley siblings Orla, Sinead and Grace
from Mullane-Healy-Godley (IL)

Future Champion Dancer with her doting Feis Daddy

Drew Lovejoy with mom Andee

from McGing (OH)

Anyone remotely familiar with a champion Irish dancer knows that it’s a family passion! This makes sense given the strong cultural ties the Diaspora has to Ireland, and the nature of the Irish family. Many Irish dance schools have multiple siblings in class, and every feis offers a ‘family cap’ for registration and competition fees. Whether it’s one of the famous families we’ve featured on a Feis America cover, or one flying under the radar until we see them on stage together, it means a commitment by everyone in the family when a dancer or two is a champion.

Enjoy these photos of some of the siblings and parents at the North American Irish Dance Championships in Nashville!


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Record number of senior ladies compete for North American Irish dance title

Megan Palmer and Jacqueline Gregory from Liz Gregory in Australia

Erika Cocco, Stefanie Warren and Candice Corrigan from Penk O'Donnell (W. Canada)

Caitlin Gash and Katie Lawler from Sheila Tully (IL)

The Senior Ladies (over 20) competition at the 2011 North American Irish Dancing Championships had more entries than ever before, requiring a split competition.

This is testimony to the feature article written by Patricia McNamara in the July/August issue of Feis America magazine, Sorority of Seniority. Read about some of the influential teachers/adjudicators – Kevin Broesler, Sally Houston, Patsy McLoughlin, Deirdre Penk-O’Donnell – and their success at keeping young ladies interested and motivated to keep dancing through the teen years when so many other challenges and opportunities present themselves. As evidenced by the top five in each group, this is not just a North American trend: three of the ten are from outside North America.

Top Five Senior Ladies A
Champion Meghan Lucey from Pender Keady (CT)
2-Lisa Murphy from O’Malley (Mid-America)
3-Caitlin Ehrich from Lynagh (Australia)
4-Stefanie Warren from Penk O’Donnell (Western Canada)
5 – Erin Green from O’Grady-Quinlan (Mid-Atlantic USA)

Top Five Senior Ladies B
Champion Frances Dunne from Doherty (England/Wales)
2-Kerri Smith from Denogla (Mid-Atlantic USA)
3-Alanna Morsby from McGing (Mid-America)
4-Simona Mauriello from Maguire-O’Shea (England)
5-Erin Skaalerud from Mulvihill-Lynch (New York)

Congratulations to all who qualified for Nationals and cheers to those who placed!

Feis America on Irish Central has been expressly prohibited from posting live commentary and real-time results by the Irish Dance Teachers Association of North America. Follow live at www.nanationals.net and stay tuned here for fun and photos all week long!

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