Remembering the queen of Irish dancing

IT was eight years ago this month (November 13, 2008) that legendary Irish dancing teacher Dot Redmond passed away after a brief illness.

For over 60 years she had been synonymous with Irish dance and culture having tutored thousands of Mayo children in the fine art of jigs and reels, and many of her pupils excelled at regional, national and international level, writes Tom Gillespie.

At the tender age of 15 years Dot embarked on what was to be a whirlwind career. She travelled around the county on a bicycle, teaching dancing steps to eager young dancers while at the same time playing the fiddle to provide the accompanying music.

Times were tough but she persevered and eventually, after her marriage to the late Andy Redmond, she established the now renowned Redmond Academy of Irish Dancing.

But not everything was rosy as she and Andy strived to raise a family of five. Tragedy struck when their home at Balloor, Castlebar, was burned to the ground and the family lost all their worldly possessions.

Then, in 1966, Andy passed away, leaving Dot with the task of raising a young family while at the same time continually building up her academy.

She was deeply involved with the promotion and development of Irish dancing at national level and also became an internationally recognised and respected adjudicator.

 

Innovative

She was innovative in her approach to furthering the appreciation of Irish dancing and from the early 1960s she travelled annually to folk dance festivals across Europe. Each summer she assembled the cream of her dancers and local musicians and set out for destinations in France, Belgium, Holland, Germany and Spain, where they performed at a series of festivals.

These trips were onerous and time-consuming as they involved being bussed to Dublin, taking the ferry to Holyhead, the train to the port of Dover or Harwich, the ferry to Ostend or the Hook of Holland, and the onward bus journey to the festival venues.

All of the trips had two key ingredients - official greetings from the then chairman of Castlebar Urban Council to their respective counterparts in festival venues and the Irish tricolour, which was always borrowed from the Fifth Motor Squadron of the FCA in Castlebar and carried with pride across Europe.

Tradition was uppermost on Dot’s agenda and the dancers and musicians were required to wear heavy dancing costumes, with Aran sweaters for the boys in the scorching Continental summers.

Later, in the 1980s, the annual trips took to the skies as groups flew to their destinations. Up to 30 dancers and musicians would set out each year and prior to their departure they were left in no doubt as to their roles overseas as Dot would emphasise that they were ambassadors for Mayo and they were expected to behave accordingly.

Many, if not most, of the troops could not afford the cost of the trips and Dot and her team would spend months fundraising so that no one would be left out of pocket.

Tragedy was again on the horizon when, in 1976, her oldest son Sean was killed in a motoring accident in England. Again Dot rallied and not alone accepted this cruel fate but took on the role of ‘mother’ to Sean’s four young children, who she raised over the coming years.

 

New York

But dancing was her life and Castlebar Urban Council feted her family with a civic reception to mark a half-century of Irish dancing. She continued to tour overseas and in 1993 realised a lifelong ambition when she and a troop of dancers from Castlebar, Westport, Foxford and Claremorris travelled to New York for the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.

There they performed at the annual dinner of the Mayo Society of New York and on St. Patrick’s Day they had the honour of leading the County Mayo delegation down Fifth Avenue in the New York parade.

In front of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dot was led through the security cordon to present a piece of Waterford Crystal to the late Cardinal John O’Connor.

On the home front, Dot continued with her classes and was a regular at feiseanna all over Connaught. Annually the success of her tuition came to the fore at the Connaught, Irish and World championships where her talented pupils excelled, and in more recent years several of them have been cast in Lord of the Dance and Riverdance roles.

Among her many admirers were Michael Flatley and the late Joe Dolan. Her dancers have always been in demand for cabaret shows, weddings and charity functions.

Since her retirement her daughters have run the academy. Dot had been a day patient at the Sacred Heart Hospital, where she was looked after by a dedicated and loving staff.

She looked forward to her daily visits and always enjoyed reminiscing with her fellow day patients. Dot passed away at Mayo General Hospital, Castlebar, on Thursday, November 13, 2008.

 

On the Continent

I had the pleasure of travelling with Dot and her many troops to several Continental festivals in the late 1960s and early ‘70s and in 1993 to New York. My first trip was to a folk dance festival in Belgium in July 1967. I recall the cost was £13 per person, which was subsidised through fundraising.

Part of this was running raffles at the Royal Ballroom, Castlebar, where all the big showbands of the day played on a Sunday night.

On the first trip we got a minibus to Dublin, the ferry from Dun Laoghaire to Holyhead, and the train to London, where we stayed overnight in Ealing with Dot’s sister-in-law, the late Chrissie Dolan (nee Redmond). That was my first time in England and I was in for an eye-opener when Chrissie’s husband, Billy, brought those of us who were of the age to the local pub.

I remember having a pint of bitter - I drank Smithwick’s at the time - and it was very similar in taste. But what surprised me was that there were no stools at the bar counter, unlike Ireland, where it is mandatory to be at the counter.

But getting back to the dancers. Can you imagine the scene in 1967 - 12 or so dancers in Irish costumes, accompanied by three or four males in Aran jumpers, one of them carrying the Fifth Motor Squadron Tricolour, marching through the streets of London? You would probably be arrested doing it today.

What should be remembered is that Dot was the sole adult chaperoning the entire group, something that would not be attempted today, and she carried it off with her usual aplomb.

In following years I travelled with them to France, Spain, Holland, Latvia, New York and Florida.

Something I learned many years later was that Dot always carried a reserve ‘ciste’ which she distributed secretly to the young dancers who either did not have or who ran out of money on the many overseas trips.

In the late ‘60s, to take a dozen or so teenagers to such festivals was unheard of and placed a huge responsibility on Dot. But she took it in her stride.

However, one thing that she did insist on was that her dancers ate whatever was put in front of them on Continental tables, and they did not let her down.

On my first trip to Belgium we were presented with horse steaks and they were duly devoured, though I must admit I had more than my fair share of la viande de cheval.