MONA RODDY DANCING 50 YEARS
MONA RODDY CHATS TO MARGARET RODDY ABOUT HER WORLD FAMOUS IRISH DANCING SCHOOL WHICH IS 50 YEARS OLD
When Mona Roddy started Irish dancing as a six year old she little imagined that she would go on to lead a Red Army of Irish dancers which stretches across the globe. Nor did she imagine she would celebrate the 50th anniversary of her world famous dance school in lockdown during a global pandemic.
Mona’s is a remarkable story which saw her overcome TB as a child to become a champion dancer before going on to instil her love for dancing in her children, grandchildren, as well as generations of youngsters from the North East and further afield.
Born and reared in Dundalk, she was the eldest of five children- two girls and three boys. ‘ We lived in a two-up two down end of terrace in the gorgeous community of Cluan Enda. Unfortunately, we lost two of my brothers very young, Brian as a baby and Pat as a young boy in an accident,’ she recalls. ‘My brother Tony, sister Maura and I were always out playing and getting into plenty of trouble!’
Growing up in the 50s in Ireland, money was in short supply for the family as with many others.
‘ Whilst my mother would have loved all of us to play music, the cost was prohibitive, and she steered us into Irish dance. My sister Maura and I started together, my brother Tony a little later, in the local Conradh na Gaeilge with the one and only Pat Matthews or Mrs M. as she was affectionately known.’
Mrs M was to have a huge influence on Mona’s career as a dancer, teacher and later adjudicator.
‘I worshipped her,’ Mona says. ‘ The say that ‘ behind every good man etc etc – well I had TWO incredible women behind me- my mother and Mrs M.’
Mona had started dancing at the age of six, but at nine contracted Primary Tuberulosis (T.B), then a common and sometimes fatal illness, which took her out of circulation for two years. ‘
‘For almost 9 months I was confined to bed at home and my caring mum fed me three pints of milk, two raw eggs and a glass of Guinness every day,’ she says. Mona was subsequently admitted to Peamount Sanatorium, Co. Dublin, which she remembers as ‘a very hard time for both my parents and I, as the hospital was a very long way from Dundalk and we did not possess a car.’
She did, however, get better and could not wait to get back dancing again.
‘As a result, I was playing catch up until I reached about 15 or 16. It was only then I started to come up into the results again, really as a senior. I was fortunate enough to win the Ulster Senior Championship ship in 1963, 64 and 65 and during these years placed 2nd at the All Ireland.
She went on to win the All Ireland in 1966 and again in 1967 and 1968. ‘ The one big regret I have from these years is that my Dad passed away in December of 1965 at the very young age of 44 and never did get to see me win.’
‘One of the major highlights of my dancing career was to win the All Ireland Senior Ladies Championship in 1967 and on the same day my brother Tony won the Junior title U16. That was a red-letter day for both of us and those two wonderful ladies mentioned earlier, my mam and Mrs M’.
After winning the title again in ’68 she decided she wouldn’t try to defend it, although she didn’t stop dancing, going on to be a teacher and adjudicator.
‘I was lucky enough to be a part of the ‘Riverdance’ of my generation in the mid-1970s when I was part of the Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann tours of USA, Canada, Great Britain and the Middle East – a tour in Libya was indeed a strange and weird experience, dancing to audiences of thousands of men in huge venues and no ladies present,’ she recalls.
‘ Traditional music, song and dance are my life and I was very blessed as a dancer to perform with some of the finest musicians of that time. Rory Kennedy, Brendan Gaughran, Pauline Gardiner White, Noreen Gardiner Shields, Brian O’Kane, the list goes on. These fine musicians were an absolute joy to dance to and I quickly learned to appreciate the lovely Sligo style of music brought to Dundalk by the revered John Joe Gardiner.’
She was also involved in the C.C.É Seisiún held in local hotels during the summer with Tony Roddy, Francis Curley, John Burns, Janey McGardle Ryan, Bertie Roddy getting the princely sum of £3 per week.
‘I also became involved in our Lady’s Musical Society in the very early 60s’ Mona recalls. ‘It was there I met my long suffering husband Brian during the production of Balfe’s ‘Lily of Killarney.’
She began studying for her Irish dance teaching exams and did her exam in Dublin on March 21 1970. The date sticks out in her mind as it was that night that Dana won the Eurovision.
Herself and Brian got married in 1971 and have three children Aidan, Ciara and Dearbhla. ‘ The difficulty of juggling family life with classes would never have been possible without the unwavering support I received from Brian right up to this day. We both love music and Brian’s involvement in two local choirs has given us great opportunities to mix that love with travel and socialising.’
Mona notes that while the basics of Irish Dancing have never changed, dancing today is way more physical and balletic that it was when she was competing. ‘ There was no emphasis on stamina, warm up, cool down etc or getting special gear to wear for class,’ she says. ‘ We danced the legs off ourselves on concrete floors (paying the price for that now!). Fancy costumes weren’t an option.’
She started to teach in the living room of her home in Cluan Enda, and graduated to running classes in St Gerards’s Hall, followed by Connradh na Gaeilge, the Dun Dealgan Boxing club and finally to St Nicholas’ Hall, which is where their Dundalk branch is still based. Other locations over the 50 years were Blackrock, Knockbridge, Shelagh,
Drogheda, Ardee, as well as venues in South Armagh and Co Monaghan.
Mona was joined by her brother, Tony and his wife Úna in 1975 and they taught together as Scoil Rince Uí Rodaigh for twenty years until 1995.She recalls that the ‘80s as being a very busy and tough time, as the country went through an economic recession. ‘Brian and I worked four jobs between us and with three young children it was always a busy house.’
‘Like everyone else we relied heavily on family and friends, often on parents in the school to help out with the children. Our ‘ holidays’ were invariably busman’s holidays to Inter Celtic festivals in France or Spain – crazy days but again, very happy days.’
She has many proud moments from those times, including the school winning three solo World titles in 1989 when Carol Leavy, Sorcha McCaul and Pat Roddy won their respective championships, she notes. Pat and his Dad Tony have the distinction still of being the first father and son to win world titles. Tony’s daughter Niamh also went on to win a World, making it another first.
Mona’s own daughters were also champion dancers and went on to become principal dancers in both Riverdance and Lord of the Dance, and now continue her work in Scoil Rince Mona Ni Rodaigh. For the past 24 years Mona, and now her daughters, have been involved in mentoring Irish dancers in New Jersey. She has also adjudicated all over the world.
Her contribution to Irish dancing has been acknowledged by AN CLRG, the governing body for Irish dancing, and by Dundalk Town Council, when she was awarded a civic reception in 2006 and again along with her daughters in 2018.
However, it’s not the winning which is most important to Mona. ‘Happiness is knowing the number of people whose lives were in some way enhanced by dancing in my school. The lifelong friendships that have been made from dancing and the memories that last long after the shine has gone off the trophies.’
She is also very proud of the fact that so many of her students have gone on to become teachers and adjudicators and choose to follow the path of dancing as both a career and a passion.
And this passion has been passed down to another generation, as her six grandchildren Katie, Oisin, Ferdia, Aoibhinn, Liadan and Ultan are all dancing and already winning competitions. Looking back, Mona says ‘Dancing has changed a lot since I danced and even since my early years as a teacher. The school which I founded 50 years go was a very different one to the one I work with today. As teachers we are more than teaching Irish dancing. We are also often playing the part of psychologist, physiotherapist, family therapist, fitness guru, etc .’
She was ‘deeply saddened’ that due to the global Covid-19 pandemic competitions have been cancelled, putting and end to their dancers’ dreams of seeing their hard work pay off on stage.
As she celebrated the 50th anniversary of Scoil Rince Mona Ni Rodaigh with her family, she was heartened by the messages of congratulations which flooded in from around the world. Her love for Irish dancing remains undiminished.
‘I suppose the basics of Irish dance will never change, the turnout, the placement, the beautiful roll of rhythm, these are the mainstay of our beautiful art form and the very sight or sound of talent will catch my eye and ear in a heartbeat.’