Ring of Kerry

Irish Dancers

Labor Day 2022

2023 End of Year Ceili

Us
Irish folk dance classes in Montgomery County, Maryland are taught by the Ring of Kerry Irish Dancers. A great recreational activity, Irish dancing provides aerobic exercise in a welcoming social setting. For prospective new members, the first class is free!
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Calendar of EventsCalendar Notice

Our list of what's going on in the Maryland Irish set and ceili dance scene, plus a little more.

Birthdays A Week Around Today:

Mary Ann B, Toni D


  • June 3 - 4: The Washington Folk Festival showcases the diversity of folk music in the Washington area. It runs from noon to 7:30 pm on both Saturday and Sunday at Glen Echo Park.
  • Saturday June 3: RKIDs' brunch social.
  • On Tuesday June 6: Lunch at The Big Greek Cafe in Rockville.
  • On Wednesday June 7: Board of Directors meeting. To be held via Zoom remote conferencing.
  • Thursday June 15: The summer session of GWCC's Irish set dance classes. Most Thursdays until August 17.
  • On Wednesday June 28: Book Club discusses Transatlantic.
  • June 29-July 2: CCE 50th Anniversary Convention with musicians, music and dance workshops, 4 ceilis and more. In Bethesda.
  • On Sunday July 9: Workshops in dance and music. Ceilis every night. Lectures and other informative events. Tubbercurry, Co. Sligo, Ireland.

If you'd like to join us but aren't interested in going to dance class, download our annual membership form below. Please fill in the first page and mail it to us with a check for your dues. But ... if you want to join either of our two semesters of classes, offered during the Fall and Winter/Spring seasons, complete the entire form and bring it to class for registration. Thank you! More about membership and classes.

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Quick Steps

Our Year-End Ceili

Capping a year of dance with our new teacher, Toni, and a greatly expanded slate of social activities, the RKIDs and friends came together at St. Mary's Pavilion in Barnesville for dancing to tunes by Tina Eck, Joe DeZarn and Jesse Winch, expertly called by Larry Frank. Highlights:


Blackthorn Ceili March 2023

What a night of great music and dancing, with a potluck to match! Tina, Joe and Zan provided the driving musical force. Sample some of the experience.


Dances for the Winter-Spring 2023 Semester



  Main Class
done Antrim Square  video
done Ballyvourney Jig  video
done The Black Valley  video
done Fairy Reel  video
done Four-Hand Reel  video
done Moycullen  video
done Siege of Carrick  video
done Sliabh Luachra  video
done South Galway  video
done Spanish Waltz  video
done Stack of Barley
done Walls of Limerick  video
done Waltz Cotillion

Lending Library

Check out the interesting reads and media you can borrow from our library for members.

Book Discussions

Every member who is interested in participating may sign up for this group. Contact Sonja via her email as listed in our membership directory. Discussion sessions will be conducted via Zoom on designated Wednesdays; see our events calendar. Registrants will get an email from Tom O. with connection instructions shortly before each discussion date. There will also be an outline of ideas to talk about. You have to acquire the books on your own; we'll display the videos when books aren't on tap. On the soon-to-review agenda is:

 

Upcoming Readings and Viewings (click here)

Reading  List

Transatlantic
by Colum McCann
Date: Wednesday June 28, 2023
Time: 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Place: Zoom - Online
From amazon.com: Colum McCann, one of the most acclaimed and essential authors of his generation, wrote this novel, Transatlantic, which "spans continents, leaps centuries, and unites a cast of deftly rendered characters, both real and imagined." ... "is a profound meditation on identity and history in a wide world that grows somehow smaller and more wondrous with each passing year."
Contact: Sonja
More About This: A major part of this book concerns Frederick Douglass's journey to Ireland, so refer back to Giant's Causeway: Frederick Douglass's Odyssey and the Making of an American Visionary, by Tom Chaffin. We discussed it on February 16, 2021. Our September 2023 book, First Crossing, also will look at the details of something mentioned in Transatlantic. How's that for literary weaving?
First Crossing: Transatlantic Flight
by Robert O. Harder
Date: Wednesday September 27, 2023
Time: 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Place: Zoom - Online
TBA - Full title is First Crossing: The Transatlantic Flight of Alcock and Brown
Contact: Sonja
Condemned to Death
by Cora Harrison
Date: Wednesday October 25, 2023
Time: 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Place: Zoom - Online
TBA
Contact: Sonja

Recommended Readings

Books endorsed by our discussion club members, ordered by title, author and who recommends it. You might find you like them, too.

Big, We Mean Big!

Rundown of Other Major Club Events

A quick look at some of our larger-scale activities.


The dances we practice are selected from popular MD-DC-VA ceili and set dance group lists as well as other sources. Learn more about us.

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