History of Rinceoiri le Cheile

The story so far…

Rinceoiri le Cheile (Rinkey-ory la Kayla) founded in 2017 when 2 dance schools came together to join forces; formerly Haughey-McAuley Academy and Carroll Lehane Academy.

Haughey-McAuley Academy consisted of Michelle Haughey, Owen McAuley, Judith Clyne and Erin Connor based on the east coast of Scotland, and Laura Haughey based in Hertfordshire, England.

Carroll Lehane Academy consisted of Declan Carroll and Colleen Lehane based in Bedfordshire and Cambridge, England.

Our dancers joined together as 1 team which was very fitting for our new name: Rinceoiri le Cheile translates from Irish as Dancers Together. We enjoyed great success with our dancers from all classes from our beginners through to World championship level. We also celebrated one of our teachers; Owen McAuley, retirement from teaching during this time too.

Lockdown

In March 2020 Covid-19 hit us all and put a stop to in-person dance classes. At this time, Declan Carroll and Colleen Lehane decided to retire from teaching and our Bedford and Cambridge classes closed. Many of those dancers moved over to our St Albans class and together with our classes in Scotland we carried on, continuing with online classes. This brought all our dancers together from every class, providing some much-needed dance for everyone; continuing to enjoy our love of Irish dancing until we could re-start our in-person classes. In 2022, our Peebles teacher, Erin Connor hung up her teaching shoes with a move to the Highlands.

Retirement

Michelle Haughey decided to retire from the Irish dancing world in June 2023. She has dedicated much of her life to Irish dancing and started her own school in 1996 which then became Haughey-McAuley when she joined with Owen McAuley and from there Rinceoiri le Cheile.

Present Day

Our teaching academy is based in England and Scotland and consists of Laura Haughey in Hertfordshire (England), and Judith Clyne-Parker in East Lothian and Midlothian (Scotland). We teach children from pre-school age to young adults and continue to promote our love of Irish dancing.

We welcome new dancers, contact us to enquire about our up-to-date classes

rcirishdance@outlook.com