Neigh-ver a dull moment for dancer Aoibh Dully

Aoibh Dully’s face lights up when she talks about the horses – several of which can be seen grazing in the fields around her Clonbonny home, just a stone’s throw from Athlone town.

Every morning, she is up early to feed the 10 horses in the yard and ride out a few of them before running out the door and eating breakfast in the car on the way to Our Lady’s Bower Secondary School in Athlone.

“When I’m in school, I’m thinking about what I’m going to do when I get home to the yard. When I come home, I’m straight out of the uniform and I’m down in the yard for the rest of the evening, basically,” the 18-year-old says, laughing.

Combining yard work with showjumping, hunting and eventing, Aoibh also has a broodmare, Rosemary, who has already delivered three foals – with another due later this month – and Aobh has named them after special people in her life.

There is Hughie, named after her grandad, who is her mother’s father, who passed away in 2023. Antoinette, or Toni, is in memory of her grandmother on her father’s side who died in 2015, and who had a big influence on her love of all things equine. Tommy is named after her other grandad. She is hoping for a filly foal this time so she can name her in honour of her grandmother on her mother’s side, Bernadette.

Showjumping competitions

Aoibh also speaks enthusiastically about Jack, an Irish sport horse, who she hopes will be a three-day eventer, and Mr Teddy, a Kerry bog pony, a rare Irish breed full of character.

An elder statesman is CJ, a Connemara pony who has won many showjumping competitions, and everyone in the family learned to ride on him. She also cares for Alice, a foster foal, who she reared from the bottle and the bucket since she was two weeks old.

Her dad Dessie flies around the world with work transporting horses, and Aoibh has accompanied him on some of the trips, like Ascot, which was a great thrill.

Champion dancer

While she may be horsey mad, there are many other strings to this talented teenager’s bow. Aoibh is also a champion sean nós dancer (having started at just four-years-old), an accomplished concertina player, teacher and a committed volunteer with the Moate branch of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann (CCÉ), serving as a youth officer.

 “It’s a very old, traditional-style dance which is low to the ground. You have free rhythm and free movement when you’re dancing,” she says, describing the sean nós style she picked up from her teacher, Sharleen Doyle.

“It’s very enjoyable – you have your own unique style – you’re not stuck to one programme. You have your own routine – no one else knows your steps, so you can repeat them as many times as you want. Essentially, you’re telling a story with your feet.”

Dancing has taken her to events and competitions all over Ireland, including myriad fleadhs and many oireachtas competitions, considered the ‘Worlds of Sean Nós’ where she was placed in the top six last year. She was the 2024 Leinster champion U18.

TV appearances

Aoibh has also danced live several times on TG4, her most recent appearance was last November, which she describes as an “unreal experience”.

As a tot she had a memorable introduction to the small screen with her talented siblings Clíona, Éirinn and Rían dancing on An Jig Gig back in 2010.

Her dance teacher Sharleen Doyle and musician husband Brendan Doyle are “two very special people” in her life and they gave her the opportunity to be one of the eight fáilteoirí or ‘welcomers’ at the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in Mullingar in 2023, which was a “huge honour”.

When her sister Éirinn took up the concertina several years ago, Aoibh showed an interest and is now teaching beginners.

“It’s great to see the kids come on. They are like a sponge – they soak in all the information [quickly],” enthuses Aoibh. “I also run a junior session the second Friday of every month, so all of the kids [around 40 aged five to 11] come to this session and they are learning the same tunes in their weekly classes, and they can play all of the tunes together.”

When Moate CCÉ hosted the Westmeath Fleadh for the first time in eight years last month, Aoibh had the honour of speaking at the opening ceremony before the President of CCÉ, Attracta Brady. In between that and competing against her two siblings in the sean nós dancing over 18 competition, she also found time to help out as a volunteer.

Looking ahead, Aoibh believes horses will be a big part of her life in the future. She would love to start a business buying and selling horses, but music and dance are important to her too. She is hopeful of getting into the BA Irish Music and Dance course in UL or agricultural science in University of Galway after the Leaving Cert results in August. Prior to that, she will be organising and performing in summer shows during July in Dún na Sí, Moate. One thing is for sure: whatever this quietly determined teenager turns her attentions to, she will give it 100%.