If you’ve ever wondered what’s going on inside the mind of a championship Irish dancer who will soon be on her way to this year’s CLRG World Championships, just ask Mary Conway. The 21-year-old, who has danced with McGahan Lees her entire career, is wise beyond her years when it comes to keeping herself in a healthy mindset before one of the biggest competitions of her life. One of Mary’s many mantras? “If I know I’ve done everything I can, what anyone else does has nothing to do with me. They turn up and do their thing, I turn up and do my thing.”
If you’ve watched one of the many dance videos that regularly circulate on social media of Mary’s breathtaking dancing, it probably won’t surprise you to hear that her favourite dance is the slip jig. Her grace, height and controlled technique shine through every time, along with her rock-steady posture. “I just absolutely love it. With my taller body and my style, there’s nothing I love more than getting on stage dancing a slip jig,” she shares. When it comes to hard shoe, and choosing between hornpipe or treble jig, it’s not quite as easy to pick: “I love both of them.”
“When I’m on stage, I can use my height and elongate myself and make myself look important”
Mary Conway
Mary was told from a young age that she was a natural dancer, but technique did not come easy for her: “Everything else was tough — crossover, fixing my body, none of that came naturally.” Standing at five feet seven inches, she’s a taller dancer, which comes with its own challenges. “I had so much leg when I was younger. It took a long time to grow into my limbs,” she says. “Use what you have to your advantage. When I’m on stage, I can use my height and elongate myself and make myself look important.”
As if preparing for Worlds isn’t enough, Mary is currently in her second year of university in Belfast where she’s studying politics and history. Finally used to living away from home, she says she’s gotten the hang of her new grown-up schedule. “I go to university during the day, dance at night, four to five classes per week. When I have weekend competitions, I’m missing a class or two to travel.” Dance has also helped her organise her daily life. “It’s a lot to do, I have to remind myself that none of this is forever,” she says. “If I have assignments due, those have to get done before I go to dance. I love it so much. When it gets hard, I remind myself why I do it.”
Mary started dancing when she was just four years old at an after-school club. While she’s from Essex in the UK, their family has roots in Ireland and her mum used that Celtic heritage to persuade her to try Irish dance. “I was just doing hop one two threes around a school hall, I didn’t have a clue back then what it would lead to,” she shares.
“People build up Majors so much. It’s just another competition”
Mary Conway
Eventually, she built up to going to actual classes during the week, followed by competitions, grades, and then the championship; she says she’s “never stopped loving it”. Luckily, she’s also got a very supportive family and considers herself “incredibly lucky” to have them cheering her on. “I don’t think they ever expected it to go this far but they’ve been behind me the entire way.”
Mary was no stranger to podium placement before she won the All Ireland Championships and placed runner up at the World Championships in 2024. She’d already won the Southern England Oireachtas in 2022 and came in second at All Irelands in 2023. That same year, she also won the North American Irish Dance Championships and All Scotland Championships. While she says she didn’t do anything too different training-wise when it came to preparing for the All Irelands, that’s where the magic of mindset came in. “If you change what you’re doing, it messes with your mind,” she explains. “Treat every Major like another feis. Keep your head in a good space. People build up Majors so much. It’s just another competition, you’ll be fine. Mindset is more than half the battle.”
There are plenty of other memorable competition moments that come to mind, including her first Major podium placement at the North American Irish Dance Championships in Vancouver in 2019, where she placed fifth. “It was the first big leap I made in my dance career in such a long time, and it pushed me forward to other Major podiums. That one was really special,” she shares. But she calls her All Irelands win one of the “best days” of her life, adding: “It was something I never thought could ever be possible. I was on cloud nine.”
“If I know I’ve done everything I can, what anyone else does has nothing to do with me. They turn up and do their thing, I turn up and do my thing”
Mary Conway
As every dancer knows, success always comes with its own physical challenges. For Mary, aside from a suspected broken foot when she was a teenager, she’s been lucky not to have any major injuries. “I know I’m still so young, but the last couple of years I’ve felt dancing getting that much harder. Sometimes you don’t need to do as much as you think you do because you’ll break yourself. All you do in dancing is compare yourself to other people, and it’s OK to take a break for injury. You reach an age and sometimes you just can’t do what you did when you were a teenager.”
But as Mary prepares herself for Worlds, she’s not holding anything back. “I go at it full force before a Major. I find the more stage practice I can get, the better,” she explains. “You do all these classes but the feeling you get at Worlds is so different. There’s a load of different emotions going on. I do as many feis’ before a Major as I can, that works best for me.” When it comes to Majors, she’s protective of her mental health before, during, and after the competition. Mary knows what works for her, and she sticks to it. That includes trying not to watch her competition on the day, which might interfere with her head space. “If you’re in a good place and feeling great and you watch somebody else and think they’re brilliant, how can I outperform that?”
She continues: “Focus on yourself to give yourself the best chance possible.” But she doesn’t totally turn a blind eye to her competition. Like many dancers, she says she does love to go back and watch her age group on FeisTV afterwards.
One of the important things that has helped Mary in her dance career might come as a surprise — it’s teaching younger dancers. “When you teach, you see so much more and it helps your own dancing. I love helping other people,” she says. Mary is working her way through the grade exams and says she plans to get her TCRG someday: “Irish dance will be a part of my life forever.”
“Not long ago, I was just starting to make the recall. I’m so happy just to dance three rounds that I’m proud of”
Mary Conway
As for her life outside of dance and university, she keeps things pretty simple, including going for walks for her mental health. “When your head gets crowded, you get a bad result, you danced bad at a feis or class, go for a walk, listen to music or a podcast, clear your head.” She also emphasises the importance of talking to friends outside of dancing. As we all know, Irish dance can be all-consuming, and Mary says having conversations that aren’t dance-related are “lovely”.
With this year’s Worlds mere weeks away, Mary is calm as a cucumber and more humble than you’d expect from a dancer of her calibre. “I feel so privileged to be in a position where I can try to push to win the Worlds,” she says. “Not long ago, I was just starting to make the recall. I’m so happy just to dance three rounds that I’m proud of. There’s nothing more I can ask for because, at the end of the day, everything else is out of your control.”
She’s already got her sights set on life after university, and it probably won’t surprise you that she wants to be part of one of the many touring Irish dance shows. She went to the Riverdance Summer School in 2022 and 2023, and was selected to perform in the matinee during the 25th anniversary run with the full troupe. But her priority has always been putting education first. “I know that as soon as I go on a dance tour I’d love it so much that I wouldn’t want to come off it. And I’ll be competing longer because of my education,” she shares.
As for any words of wisdom for younger dancers, Mary insists it’s all about being present and soaking in every second. And not just the podium moments — the good, the bad, and the ugly. “Enjoy the journey, you never know when it’s gonna end, and you never know the final destination,” she says. “Dream bigger than you could ever imagine, anything is possible.”
Follow Mary on Instagram.
Photography: Lee Simpson/ Grant Parfery
Design: Colleen Falco
Words: Jen Clark
Editor-In-Chief: Hollie Geraghty
Social Media and Editorial Assistant: Caitlin Clarke
