Trinity Irish Dancers in triple triumph
In April 1998 Chicago's Trinity Academy won three gold medals at the Irish dancing world championships in Ennis, a first for an American school.
As printed in the Celtic Mirror, May 1998
CHICAGO - In a sweeping victory, Chicago's Trinity Irish Dancers made history this April at the 1998 world championships of Irish Dance in Ennis, Ireland. For the first time in the history of the competition, Trinity dominated foreign competitors to win three gold medals.
At the world championships, dance schools from across the globe enter teams in three different age groups - Under 13, Under 16 and Seniors - to be judged in the categories of ceili, choreography and solos. Representing the United States, Trinity's under-16 team became the first Americans ever to win a gold medal in ceili, a competition in which a team of eight dancers perform a traditional Irish dance. Trinity's under-13 team became the youngest Americans to win a gold medal for choreography. Trinity's senior team, mostly Trinity Irish Dance Company members, also won a gold medal for choreography.
This year, Trinity instructor Sheila Ryan, coach of the under-16 team, and assistant school director Amy Campbell became the first two North Americans to win gold medals for both dancing and coaching. Both women danced under the direction of founder and artistic director Mark Howard. "For these women who were my students to excel now as coaches and teachers is incredibly gratifying," Howard said. "These victories clearly show that Trinity's program and staff are the best in the world."
Each team competes against 20-80 other teams from around the world. The competition is similar to the Olympics in that judging is done by a panel of seven international judges. Also, teams must qualify for the world championships by consistently prevailing in several local competitions (known as "feiseanna" in Gaelic). Winners at the local level then compete at the regional and national levels for the right to represent their country.
Created in 1990 by Howard, the founder of Trinity Academy of Irish Dance, the dance company is known for its innovative footwork and choreography. In the past, the troupe's nontraditional approach has in some cases helped its teams win and in other cases caused them to be disqualified.
Since 1985, Trinity has captured 17 world titles and 6 gold medals. The previous 3 gold medals were won in 1987, 1990 and 1994. Trinity now holds a title in each category of the world championships. The 18-year-old academy has become a flagship among Irish dance schools worldwide. Currently, Trinity provides instruction at six locations in the Midwest, including Chicago; three Chicago suburbs, Western Springs, Palatine and Downers Grove; and Madison, Wisc., and Milwaukee.
Still dancing in Chicago
This was a short staff report, written in the glow of the spring of 1998. Context helps. Four years earlier, on 30 April 1994, a seven-minute interval act at the Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin's Point Theatre had turned Irish step dancing into a mass spectacle. The full Riverdance show opened at the same theatre on 9 February 1995. Its two stars, Michael Flatley and Jean Butler, were both Irish dancing champions. Irish dance had a mass audience, and a Chicago team winning in Ennis was news well beyond the parish hall.
Mark Howard's story fits the article's numbers. Born in Yorkshire and raised in Rogers Park on Chicago's North Side, he started the Trinity Academy of Irish Dance at about 20. He coached the first American team to win gold at the World Championships, which fits the 1987 gold mentioned above. In 1990 he set up the Trinity Irish Dance Company as a non-profit, built around what he calls progressive Irish dance: competition footwork taken onto the concert stage. He has since won an Emmy and was inducted into the Irish American Hall of Fame in 2023.
Counting Trinity's world titles is a hobby in itself. The academy's own releases have cited 17 world championships, a later company biography says 18, and a television report put the academy's team golds at 14. The figures differ because some count team titles, some individual titles and some the whole school. What does not differ is the direction of travel.
The company is still working. On 28 February 2026 it played Chicago's Auditorium Theatre on Ida B. Wells Drive, a short ride from the suburbs listed at the end of this report. Twenty-eight years on, the schools in Western Springs and Palatine are still turning out the dancers.
Questions readers ask
Who founded the Trinity Irish Dance Company?
Mark Howard founded the Trinity Irish Dance Company in Chicago in 1990 as a non-profit for his style of progressive Irish dance. Born in Yorkshire, England, and raised in Chicago's Rogers Park, he had launched the Trinity Academy of Irish Dance at about age 20. He was inducted into the Irish American Hall of Fame in 2023.
When did an American team first win the Irish dancing world championships?
Mark Howard coached the first American team to win gold at the World Irish Dancing Championships, and this 1998 report lists Trinity's first world gold in 1987. In April 1998 Trinity's under-16 team became the first Americans to win gold in the ceili category, part of a three-gold haul at the championships in Ennis, County Clare.
How did Riverdance change Irish dancing?
Riverdance began as a seven-minute interval act at the Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin's Point Theatre on 30 April 1994, featuring champions Michael Flatley and Jean Butler. The full show opened there on 9 February 1995. It is credited with turning a reserved traditional form into a modern stage spectacle.
What is a feis in Irish dancing?
A feis (plural feiseanna) is a local Irish dancing competition. In the qualifying system described in 1998, dancers and teams first compete at feiseanna, then at regional and national championships, for the right to represent their country at the world championships, where panels of international judges score solo, ceili and choreography events.
