Stephen started Irish Dancing at the age of 8 and enjoyed many years of solo and team dancing with the Miriam McCarthy School of Dancing in Drogheda. In 2002, he decided to concentrate more on his solo dancing and joined Scoil Rince Oirialla in Dundalk under the mentoring of his teachers Francis Curley, Olive Burnes & Fiona Harold. Throughout his years as a competitive dancer, Stephen won numerous dancing titles including three Ulster Championships in a row (2004, 2005, 2006), one All-Scotland Championship (2005), one British National Championship (2005), one All-Ireland Championship (2006), and two World Championships (2005 & 2007). In 2007, he won the world title with a perfect score of 700. 

 

Having toured as a Lead Dancer & Troupe Dancer with Rhythm of the Dance for one year, Stephen returned home in 2008 and decided to start playing music at feiseanna. He can now be seen playing regularly at feiseanna worldwide and has had the privilege of playing at some major events such as the World Championships, North American Irish Dance Championships, Irish Nationals & Australian National Championships. 

 

Stephen has released a number of albums including the Choones series, The Feis Machine series, Feis Set Dances & The Ultimate Irish Dance Workout. He has also been signed as an artist with Feis The App and released FeisLife in 2020. His most recent release comes in the form of an ongoing collaboration with Anthony Davis, entitled Roots. This album features predominantly traditional tunes that everyone knows and loves and will take them back to their “roots”.

 

Amongst dancing and playing music at feiseanna, Stephen has completed a B.A. in Irish & Geography as well as a Postgraduate Diploma in Primary Education at St.Patrick’s College in Dublin and now currently works as a part-time Primary School Teacher. He qualified as a TCRG with An Coimisiún Le Rince Gaelacha in 2017 and established the Carolan Academy of Irish Dance & Music in 2019 with his wife, Caitlin Carolan, ADCRG. Stephen more recently qualified as an ADCRG with CLRG in 2022.

 

Stephen is delighted to be playing at the 2024 McAleer Championship and would like to wish all dancers and teachers the very best of luck.