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History of the McCamphill Godfrey Academy of Irish Dancing |
| Home | The school has it's roots in the Byrne Academy originally set up in Bedford
several years ago by Eamonn Byrne TCRG. The school and its dancers were reasonably successful at the regular feisanna (competitions) that they attended around the UK. In addition to these competitions the school regularly held it's own Class only feis. It was at one of these class competitions that we first met a young dancer called Karen McCamphill, who was a regular in the cast of Michael Flatleys Lord of the Dance. Eamonn had known Karen for a long time and they had been regular dance partners over the years. As an old friend he had invited her to this particular Class feis to act as adjudicator. Of course, the dancers were delighted to get the chance to show off in front of her and everyone enjoyed the competitions. Class feis are quite a frantic event for parents as they usually run everything, provide refreshments, run Raffles etc. and still try to find time to watch the dancing too! Towards the end of the afternoon a group of parents decided that it would be a treat for all if we could persuade Eamonn & Karen to put on a show. Eamonn wasn't too keen but was persuaded by us offering to have an extra whip round to swell the coffers for the day, with all funds raised going to help the school. We were treated by a delightful display and then sadly the day was over, and we had to clear up the mess in the hall! . Apart from occasional mentions by Eamonn we never expected to see her again. That is until Eamonn announced that he was taking on a teaching partner, and we were pleasantly surprised to find it was Karen. By this time she was married, which meant changing her name to McCamphill Godfrey. She had also left the show and therefore became a regular at classes. Despite being a fantastic dancer Karen wasn't yet a fully certified Irish dance teacher (or TCRG) so, with Eamonn's help, she set about studying all the requirements for the examination in Dublin. It wasn't too long before it was announced in class that Karen was now a fully qualied TCRG and the school became known as the Byrne Godfrey Academy! We began to see even greater success as Karen's recent experience of being on stage brought an extra dimension to the dancing. Sadly after about a year Eamonn decided to hang up his dancing shoes for the last time and decided to retire as a dance teacher in January 2004 And thus we changed name again to become The McCamphill Godfrey Academy! Since then we've had even greater success, and Karen has found time to fit in having a beautiful daughter too! I'm hoping to persuade Karen to give us some info on her own dancing experiences so watch this space! |
| On the 1st August 2005 Karen unexpectedly announced that the school was to close immediately | |