Local Irish dancers excel at provincial championships
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From left: Ally Corrnyn, Ballymahon, medallist; Liepa Cmukas, world qualifier; Yvés McCague, world qualifier; Faye Clarke - champion; Kitty Jane Duffy, medallist.Image 2 of 8
U13 world qualifier, podium place, Zara Meehan from Multyfarnham.Image 3 of 8
Yvés McCague, world qualifier; Faye Clarke; and Kitty Jane Duffy, who is from Drogheda and travels to Mullingar for lessons.Image 4 of 8
U14 Girls Leinster champion Faye Clarke from Lynn Cross.Image 5 of 8
Ally Corrnyn, Patricija Kiwkasnijiva and Liepa Cmukas, U15 Girls.Image 6 of 8
Hannah Nolan; Éadaoin Ryan ,3rd place, World qualifier U11; Cerys Corcoran - prelim champion U12, Eden McCague U12 podium finisher, world qualifier.Image 7 of 8
Dancers from the Carson Academy who participated at the Clrg Leinster Championships in the Mullingar Park Hotel.Image 8 of 8
Anna Böse from Collinstown.The young dancers from the Carson Academy in Mullingar had a productive few days at the recent CLRG Leinster Irish Dancing Championships, which were held in the Park Hotel.
A total of 16 local dancers, who are under the tuition of Fiona Gallagher, competed in the championships, which are qualifiers for the world championships.
Competition was fierce and more than 700 dancers took part in various championships over the weekend. The local girls did their families and Westmeath proud. Faye Clarke from Lynn Cross secured the academy’s first ever Leinster title when she was crowned the U14 girls champion.
Faye won her first world medal in Montreal last spring and since then she has gone from strength to strength; she finished third at the Irish nationals in September. A month later she won the All-Scotland Championships, and was crowned provincial champion in November.
“She’s had an incredible year to date and the best is yet to come. We have high hopes for her to achieve greater success at the world championships next year,” says her teacher Fiona.
“Other podium finishers representing the Carson Academy included Éadaoin Ryan from Gleann Petit, who finished third in the U11 Girls competition; Eden McCague from Greenpark, fifth in the U12 Girls; Zara Meehan from Multyfarnham, fourth in the U13 Girls; Liepa Cmukas from Greenpark (seventh); and Anna Böse from Castlepollard, eighth in the U16 girls. All of the above will represent Leinster and are world qualifiers.
“A special mention to Cerys Corcoran from Delvin, who won the Preliminary U12 Championship U12, and Ally Corrnyn from Ballymahon, who narrowly missed out on a qualifying spot, placing a fantastic 10th place in the U15 Girls competition.
“We also had great success debuting some new pupils to the major championship circuit. Hannah Nolan from Multyfarnham placed second U11 in her Príomh Comórtas; Ellie O’Donnell from Lakepoint was runner-up U13 in her Príomh Comórtas; Emily Thompson from Castletown Geoghegan, winner of her Príomh Comórtas U11; Faye McDonald from Lakepoint placed in the top five in her Príomh Comórtas U13; and Patricija Kowkesinaja, who was the runner-up in her U15 Príomh Comórtas.
“This is a huge achievement and testament to these dancers. They have trained diligently for months for this event; they even travelled to Belfast for additional classes, and had to balance school life, state exams and CBAs with a hectic dance schedule.
“The dancers will now enjoy some downtime before returning to training to take on the next championships in 2024. They are a credit to themselves and their families. In an era where more and more teenage girls are shying away from sports and activity, these girls are to be commended, for how they juggle school work and dance as well as other hobbies.”