From Mount
Errigal to Mt.
Lebanon —
Irish dance
has worldwide
appeal.
Irish dance can be physically
demanding with elaborate
costumes that can run into
the thousands of dollars.
The Shovlin Academy of Irish
Dance in Dormont helps to
develop confidence and create
joy for local kids who want to
learn the art of Irish dance.
BY PAMELA PALONGUE
P
eter J. Shovlin, Sr. and Celia Sweeney were
originally from County Donegal, located
in the northeastern part of the island of the
Republic of Ireland. The couple actually met at
a dance hall in London though, where they had
gone to work in the factories due to the scarcity
of jobs following World War II. After marrying,
they decided to come to America in 1957,
where Celia had a sponsor — a requirement for
immigrants to the U.S. at that time.
“My dad was always a fiddler,” explains the
Shovlins’ daughter Sheila. “He would play at
dances and dance competitions and local events.”
So it was a natural transition for the Shovlin
children to become involved in Irish dance.
Though their mom did not participate in the
actual dancing, she was always there playing a
very important support role, pressing costumes
and packing lunches for the road trips to Irish
dance competitions that were sometimes an eight
or nine-hour drive away.
Peter and the Irish Centre of Pittsburgh
were responsible for locating a really excellent
instructor named Theresa Burke, who traveled to
Pittsburgh from Ohio on a weekly basis to teach
the unique form of dance known as step dancing.
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