If there’s one word that can be used to describe the Irish dancing career of Megan Ramsay, it’s ambition. An Irish dancer of 17 years, Megan has all the accolades to prove that the sky has always been the limit, from winning the Great Britain Championships in 2019, to numerous World Championship recalls over the years, to performing with Feet Of Flames in 2020. But titles, sashes, and trophies almost pale in comparison to the 26-year-old’s most recent undertaking, which pushed her physically and mentally further than ever before.
As if aiming for a personal best at this year’s CLRG World Championships in Schaumburg wasn’t enough, Megan decided to train for her first marathon parallel to Worlds preparation, racking up countless miles in the first half of 2026, all while spending hours perfecting her competitive steps in the studio. Just two weeks after ticking off that Worlds PB with 17th place, she crossed the Manchester Marathon finish line after 26.2 gruelling miles, securing a coveted sub-five hours finish. “It took a couple of days after both to process it,” she shares, joining me on Zoom after a full day of work at the office.
Megan, who is based in London but grew up in the town of St Helens in Merseyside, has been Irish dancing since she was nine years old, and has gone through many different seasons with the sport since then. She started out close to home with the McNamara School for four years before its closure, after which she transferred to the Loughran School in Liverpool, then the Carey Academy in Birmingham during university, before settling at her current school, Justine Ward-Mallinson in Manchester. “I’ve danced with so many amazing schools over the years,” Megan reflects. “I’ve loved every single one for different reasons, and all the people I’ve met along the way.”
Throughout that time, Megan has documented much of the journey on Instagram, her feed capturing the countless feiseanna, international competitions and showreel highlights — not to mention, all the colourful dresses in between — that have filled her weekends for most of her life. But longtime followers of Megan will have noticed that her content has undergone a rebrand of sorts in recent years, taking us closer to the action with “get ready with me” videos, running vlogs, and viral trends. With 17.9K Instagram followers and a 75.6K-strong TikTok audience fully invested in her twin passions of running and dancing, there’s been one other noticeable difference. “I genuinely think I’ve loved Irish dancing more than I ever have,” Megan says of her new era with a twinkly smile.
“Sometimes you just need to take a breath and be like, ‘It doesn’t matter’. If [people] care, that’s up to them. As long as you’re fine with it, then you can be at peace and be happy”
Megan Ramsay
But it hasn’t exactly been a straight road. Shortly after the COVID-19 Lockdowns kept Irish dancers confined to home practice and Zoom classes for much of 2020 and 2021, Megan struggled to find her spark again. “I feel like I lost the passion a little bit because there was nothing to work towards,” she admits. After competing at the Belfast Worlds in 2022, the future of Megan’s dance career looked uncertain. She took a year and a half out before ultimately deciding to return “purely for fitness” in 2024. Megan, unsurprisingly, quickly found herself drawn back in. “It just snowballed from there, into full-blown out of retirement,” she says with a laugh.
Not only did the time away allow Megan to return fully reinvigorated, but it was an opportunity to reflect on the toxic mindset cycles she had previously found herself in. “It was the pressure that I was putting on myself, of being worried about going into a competition,” she says. “If you’re worrying so much, you’re not going to enjoy it, and you’re not going to get the best out of yourself.” In other words, as Megan candidly puts it, all the things we worry about in Irish dancing are really “not that deep”.
It’s easy to lose sight of why we all start in the first place. Megan discovered Irish dance as a child when none of her other hobbies stuck, failing to be won over by ballet, athletics, or gymnastics. That was until one day, she saw an advert for Irish dance lessons in a local newspaper. “It had a picture of all the dresses, and instantly I was like, ‘That looks like a bit of me,’” she remembers. Megan, who has no Irish family connections, found herself “completely engrossed” at her first class.
From there, it became about the little milestones — earning her first pair of shoes, working up to wearing a wig, owning her own dress. But soon enough, Megan’s goals became less focused on the kit and more on competition. Over the years, she’s honed her attention-grabbing style that combines snazzy choreo — including those viral bendy rocks — turned out heavy steps and a full-package presentation sealed with a smile. With all those components drilled to a fine art, Megan’s fruitful competitive career spans countless podium spots at local feiseanna, top 10 placements at Majors, and regional Qualifier titles.
Out of her many competitive achievements, though, Megan says having the courage to step back on stage is pretty high up on that list. Even better is the positive mindset she’s cultivated since returning to feising. “You care so much [wondering], ‘What do people think? Are they going to be saying this?’” she says. “Sometimes you just need to take a breath and be like, ‘It doesn’t matter.’ If they care, then that’s up to them. As long as you’re fine with it, then you can be at peace and be happy.”
“The variety of goals [in running] is insane. It’s the shift on self-focus, rather than worrying about what everybody else around you is doing”
Megan Ramsay
Megan gives full credit for this perspective shift to the running. “You’re doing it for yourself, because we’re not competing with the people that are getting sub-two-hour marathons. The variety of goals is insane, and it’s the shift on self-focus, rather than worrying about what everybody else around you is doing,” she explains. “I think the sooner you can worry about your own lane, you don’t let all these other things in that affect you. And you’ll probably get the best out of yourself as well.”
But running hasn’t always been such an important part of Megan’s life. She remembers how she “humbled” herself” by trying to run a 5K during Lockdown, only to realise that her dancing fitness didn’t carry over as much as expected. It was only when she moved to London for her job as a football social and content creator for UEFA — the very role that she credits for inspiring her own social media journey — in 2024 that she took advantage of the abundance of picturesque running routes in the city. “It started off very casually, and then in January I was like, ‘I’m going to run a half marathon,’” she remembers. Megan has now successfully doubled that distance and hasn’t written off doing another marathon in the future.
With Megan based in London and unable to make it to her dance classes in Manchester on a weekly basis — relying instead on Zooms with her teacher in between — running has been the perfect supplement to her fitness. As for whether she believes the two training styles can co-exist, Megan says that being a dancer with so many years behind her has helped her to know her own body. “It’s probably not for everyone, but I feel like when you’re older, and you’ve done it for so long, [Irish dancing is] sort of like riding a bike. If you can pick up your choreography, you’ve just got to keep the fitness up.”
Besides her mileage goals, it’s especially refreshing to hear Megan talk so openly yet humbly about her ambitions in Irish dancing. She admits to feeling a tinge of bittersweetness about being two places off a World medal this year. “When I’m comparing it to running, you would never be afraid to say it,” she says of her honest approach to goal-setting. “I want to be like a big sister to people who didn’t have that. You shouldn’t be afraid to put out there what you want. We’re all human beings, we’re all competitive and trying to improve ourselves. Creating a fear of saying it is putting yourself in a box.
“You shouldn’t dim your light to not be worried about what people are going to say,” Megan continues passionately. “I’ll take one for the team and put it out there if it makes somebody else feel [less worried] about not getting what [they want].”
“[Finishing a marathon] was a feeling I’ve genuinely not felt before”
Megan Ramsay
When Megan crossed the finish line at the Manchester marathon, she was so overcome with the achievement that she struggles to put it into words even now. “It’s a feeling I’ve genuinely not felt before. Because it’s so mentally tough,” she says with a thoughtful gaze. “In dancing, it’s so quick, and then it’s over. But this…the last 10 kilometres. You’re sort of discovering things about yourself,” she laughs.
What started out as a mission for Megan to finish her dancing career on her own terms is now a new journey in its own right. Runners often talk about entering the “flow state”, where all external noise melts away and you’re fully in the moment. Through hours of training and many, many miles, Megan seems to have finally found this place in Irish dancing, too. “I’ve just thought, if you’re happy, why are you putting a deadline on it?” she says of her current chapter, retirement no longer on her mind. “I think I’ll know when I’m ready.”
Follow Megan on Instagram and TikTok.
Photography: Dance Photography MK by Agata Brennan
Design: Colleen Falco
Words/ Editor-In-Chief: Hollie Geraghty
