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When Sarah first walked into her first Irish dance class in Bath, she expected stiff shoes and stiff formalities. What she got was two left feet, a bruised shin, and an instructor who laughed in the kindest possible way. That was eight years ago. She's now competing at the All-Scotland Championships.
Bath isn't the first city people think of when they hear "Irish dance." Dublin, yes. New York, sure. But this Georgian city tucked into the southwest of England has quietly built one of the most vibrant Irish dance scenes outside the Emerald Isle itself. If you're shopping for a school here, you've already got more options than you probably realised.
Bath Academy of Irish Dance
The Bath Academy is the oldest outfit in the city, and it shows—in the best way. The floorboards in their studio on Monmouth Street are warped from decades of trebles and shuffles. Instructor Moira Gallagher has been teaching since the 1990s, and she remembers every student who's cycled through her doors. Classes run from absolute beginner to championship level, and Moira's philosophy is simple: you learn the steps right, or you learn them twice.
What sets the Academy apart is their performance troupe. Students who stick around get chances to dance at city festivals, the Bath Christmas Market, even weddings. There's something electric about performing Irish dance on cobblestones while tourists stare like they've just witnessed a spell.
Celtic Steps Dance School
Celtic Steps occupies a converted church hall, which sounds like a gimmick but genuinely works—the vaulted ceilings mean the music doesn't echo off the floor, and dancers can actually hear the difference in their own footwork.
Founder and director Sean Tierney came to Irish dance sideways. He trained in contemporary dance first, then came to feisannacht competitions through a friend at university. That background shows in his teaching. Celtic Steps classes spend more time on fluidity and weight transitions than most traditional schools, and their students tend to stand out for having genuinely expressive upper bodies.
They bring in guest instructors four times a year—one of those guests was a former Riverdance ensemble member who spent two hours just working on arm placement. Students still talk about it.
Emerald Isle Dance Academy
Emerald Isle is the opposite of intimidating. Walk in wearing joggers and a t-shirt you've had for three years, and nobody's going to comment. The school was founded by a mother-daughter partnership—Catherine and her daughter Erin, who started competing at age seven and now co-teaches the senior class.
The focus here is community over competition. They hold an annual show at the RUH that raises money for local causes, and half the performers are adults who started as total beginners twelve months earlier. There's a woman in their Wednesday evening class who's sixty-three years old, started dancing after her retirement, and last year medaled at the Cheltenham feis. Nobody there is trying to build a professional pipeline. They're trying to give people something to show up for.
Riverdance School of Irish Dance
The name draws people in, and yes, there's a deliberate connection to the Riverdance brand—but the school earns its reputation independently. Classes are disciplined and technically rigorous, and the standard moves fast. You won't spend six months on the same drill if you've already nailed it.
What Riverdance School does that the others don't is ensemble work. By the end of their first year, students typically perform as part of a group at least twice. The school's performance nights—held quarterly in a real theatre space—are packed, loud, and unapologetically theatrical. Dancers wear full costumes. There's staging. Someone plays the Bodhrán. It feels like a show, not a class.
Tir na nÓg Irish Dance Academy
Tir na nÓg is where younger dancers tend to land first. The name means "land of eternal youth" in old Gaelic, and the school leans into that energy. Classes for under-tens are loud, energetic, and built around games as much as drills. Instructor Aoife Murphy—who competed internationally until a knee injury ended her feisannacht career—runs a tight ship in the best way. She is relentlessly encouraging but has no patience for sloppiness, and her students know it.
What's useful about Tir na nÓg for older beginners is that Aoife also runs an adult fundamentals class on Tuesday evenings. She's designed it specifically for people who are coaches, parents, or just curious. No experience necessary. No judgment, either—but you will work.
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The Irish dance community in Bath is tighter than you'd expect for a city its size. Teachers know each other, students cross-pollinate between schools, and there's a Lowland Championships feeder relationship that means Bath schools regularly punch above their weight on the national circuit.
Which school is right for you comes down to what you're actually looking for. If you want medals, go hard at Celtic Steps or Riverdance School. If you want to fall in love with the dance and see where it takes you, Emerald Isle or Tir na nÓg will serve you better. The Bath Academy sits comfortably in the middle, which is exactly where a good foundation should be.
Start with a trial class. Wear whatever you have. Get your feet wet.
Worst case, you bruise your shins. Best case, you find your people.
