Country representing: Northern Ireland
Number of performers in the whole group: 60
Competitions Participating In:
Traditional Folk-Dance Group
Choreographed/Stylised Folk-Dance Group
Children’s Traditional Folk Dance Group
Llangollen Dance Off
Open Dance (solo)
Open Dance (duet/trio)
Biography:
The Loughgiel Folk Dancers are a dance group based in Northern Ireland, UK.
History
Loughgiel School of Irish Dancing was established in 1978 by Colette O’Mullan. She is now joined by four of her champion pupils, Denise Dobbin, Leisa Gillan, Eilísann McCann and Lynsey Fusco. The group is extremely committed and the dedication from their students commendable. On occasion over the past year they have found themselves in rehearsals seven nights per week. The school has indeed a great reputation both locally and internationally when it comes to creativity and choreography in both solo and team dancing. The dancers’ favourite element in any competition is the opportunity to meet new groups and make lifelong friendships through music, song and dance.
Achievements
The school has numerous accolades and in the past year they became the current Ulster and World Championship title holders. Their success was overwhelming at the recent Ulster Championships where they secured a remarkable amount of 1st place awards and many 2nds, 3rds etc. in both solo and team competitions.
The Loughgiel Folk Dancers have enjoyed previous successes many times at the Llangollen Eisteddfod. Our awards include the prestigious Lucille Armstrong Award which we are extremely proud of. We also made history when we achieved 100 marks for one of our performances in 2017. The school took part in the International Folk Dancing competition in 2022 and were delighted to win all of the competitions in which they took part. As a result the group qualified to compete in the overall ‘Dance Championship’. They won 1st place and the award was presented alongside the prestigious ‘Choir of the World’ award. This was indeed a memorable moment for the group.
The school continues to go from strength to strength and the teachers and pupils alike are extremely proud of their fantastic achievements to date.
