Mary Sweeney's journey in Irish dance began at the age of four at the Farrelly School in Co Meath, Ireland, under the guidance of Mollie Farrelly SDCRG. She competed at prestigious events like Leinsters, All Irelands, and Worlds and also played a vital role in the Senior Ladies Ceili, contributing to their World Championship titles in the late 80s in Leisureland, Galway.
In 1992, following her pursuit of German studies, Mary took a life-changing step and traveled to Munich, Germany. There, she established her dance school in 1993 becoming one of the pioneering Irish dance educators in Mainland Europe. Her dedication and commitment led her to achieve her TCRG and later ADCRG.
Mary's passion for progress and development saw her co-founding the Mainland European teachers association, RCCEA (Regional Council of Continental Europe and Asia) in 2003. Throughout the years, she held various officerships, ranging from Feis registrar to Regional Rep and served as Chairperson and currently Vice Chair. Her dedication to the promotion of Irish dance worldwide led her to hold the position of European Teachers representative to CLRG (An Coimisiún le Rincí Gaelacha). Additionally, she has chaired the Overseas Development Committee for a fourth term. Mary is currently a Vice Chair for CLRG.
Recognized for her outstanding contributions and volunteer work, Mary was honored as a Vice President of CLRG for the past four years. As part of the Overseas Development Committee, she played a pivotal role in introducing the prestigious Aisling Award to the World Championships.
Mary's expertise as an ADCRG has taken her far and wide as a respected adjudicator. She has judged at prominent events like Oireachtasi all over the USA, Great Britain, Irish Nationals, European Championships, North American Nationals, All Scotlands, and Australian Championships. Notably, she has been instrumental in inaugurating Feiseanna from Buenos Aires to Vladivostok.
For the past 24 years, Mary has been teaching in the Landstuhl area in Germany, inspiring countless dancers to achieve greatness. Her guidance has produced numerous European Champions, All Ireland and World medal holders, many of whom have graced the world stage in productions like Lord of the Dance and have gone on to become qualified teachers themselves. She has been a mentor to many dancers assisting in their journey to attain the prestigious TCRG qualification.
Born and raised in Mexico City, Ana began her dance career as a ballet dancer from the age of six under the Royal Academy of Dancing and the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing, both English classical methods. Several years later she would become part of the first generation of Irish Dancers in Mexico to compete and be affiliated under An Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha.
Since the year 2000 Ana has been teaching Irish Dance with the principle of opening doors and giving opportunities to new generations of dancers. She is invested in both enabling students to reach the highest level of competition as well as providing an environment in which they can cultivate their passion and develop as individuals.
Some of her former students have continued their own dancing careers, later placing in top positions in the U.S. Southern Region Oireachtas as well as in World Championships.
In 2015 Ana moved to Munich and has been teaching with the Sweeney McAvinchey school since relocating to Germany. She became a TCRG in 2018 under the tutelage of Mary Sweeney and Shane McAvinchey.
Born and raised in Munich to a German mother and Irish father, Eileen was reluctantly dragged to her first Irish Dance class in 1998 at the age of 6 alongside her older sister. Eileen has been dancing ever since learning her first steps from Brid and Mary Sweeney (neé Murray) at those early classes held in Shenanigan’s Irish Pub. Eileen is one of Tir Na nÓg’s longest standing members and through this time has experienced life as both a dancer - competitive and recreationally - and as a teacher.
In December 2017 Eileen successfully sat her TCRG examination and is now a fully qualified Irish Dance teacher with An Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha. Away from the dance studio Eileen works as a Sales Manager and she hopes that with the combination of her experience both professionally and through her longstanding membership of the school she will be able to help the Tir Na nÓg Verein to grow.
Lucy was introduced to Irish Dance at age five. She participated at some of the earliest competitions in the European region and was one of the first dancers from Mainland Europe to qualify and compete at the World Championships. Lucy enjoyed a successful competitive career which included six consecutive Mainland Europe regional titles and winning medals at the All Ireland, British National and All Scotland championships as well as achieving top 5 place finishes at competitions in the UK and Ireland.
At the age of 18 Lucy moved to Glasgow to begin her Law studies and joined the Caroline Greene School of Irish Dance. There, she was given the opportunity to dance in the school's champion teams as well as practice and compete alongside the school's champion solo dancers.
She successfully sat her TCRG examination in Vienna December 2017 and passed with Honours.
Lucy still contributes with the Sweeney McAvinchey School, as she currently works as a lawyer in Edinburgh. She is also an active member of the RCCEA having occupied the Feis Registrar position from 2021 to 2023.