Boys under 15 New England Champion Martin Bradshaw from Heavey-Quinn Academy of Irish Dance
tops the podium with Griffith Academy dancers 2nd Colin Dyson and 3rd Griffin Bartone.
Photo: Jennie Natusch

The 32nd New England Regional Irish Dancing Championships took place November 18-20, 2011, at the Rhode Island Convention Center in downtown Providence, Rhode Island.  Male Irish dancers aged seven to over twenty competed for New England championship titles with hundreds of spectators and dance friends in the audience.

In nine of thirteen events, the defending champion from 2009 retained his title.  From the Harney Academy of Irish Dance in Massachusetts, New England Champions Patrick Mello and Tayler Nunes won for the third consecutive year with young classmate Jacob Parkman successfully defending his own 2010 title.  Nunes, a standard at the New England Oireachtas since 2002, holds six New England Championships, three seconds and one third placement.


Tayler Nunes wins his third consecutive New England Championship!
Pictured here with Harney Academy of Irish Dance classmate and New England Champion Melissa McCarthy.
photo: Mary McCarthy
 2010 New England Champions Conor McTavish, Declan O'Sullivan and Colin Vecchiariello topped the podium again in 2011, as did Samuel Miller who also won in 2007 and 2008, having taken a break in 2009.  Matt Mulvey now holds the Senior Men Championship after his 2009 championship and a break from competition in 2010.

Among the most decorated New Englanders are Conor O'Brien, who earned his seventh consecutive New England Championship since 2005 after two second and one third placement starting in 2002, and Joe Harrison whose record of success now includes five New England Championships, three second and one third placement since 2001.

Here are the results from the 2011 New England Oireachtas for the boys/men:

Boys under 8 - 3 placed
Champion    Ronan Kelly, Brady (MA)
2                  Mish Bane, Harney (MA)
3                  Fintan Murtagh, Brady (MA)

Boys under 9 - 3 placed
Champion    Jacob Parkman, Harney (MA)
2                 Danny Levine, Brady (MA)
3                 Conor Clarke, Woods (MA)

Boys under 10 - 3 placed and qualified for Worlds and Nationals
Champion    Declan O'Sullivan, Smith Houlihan (MA)
2                   Liam Daly, Santacroce (CT)
3                   Devin Maida, Hansen Keohane (MA)

Boys under 11 - 6 placed and qualified for Nationals; 5 qualified for Worlds
Champion    Patrick Mello, Harney (MA)
2                  Griffin Wilkins, Harney (MA)
3                  Braden Mahoney, Harney (MA)
4                  John Donohoe, Clifden (MA)
5                  Conall Hirsch, Conall Murray (MA)
6                  Thomas Bergeron, McFadden (MA)

Boys under 12 - 5 placed and qualified for Worlds and Nationals
Champion    Colin Vecciariello,  Gilleóghan (CT)
2                   Billy Petrocelli, Bremer (MA)
3                   Nathaniel Parkman, Harney (MA)
4                   Aodhan Dougherty, Smith Houlihan (MA)
5                   Dylan Maida, Hansen Keohane (MA)

Boys under 13 - 1 placed and qualified for Worlds and Nationals
Champion    Ollie Sussman, O'Shea-Chaplin (MA)

Boys under 14 - 2 placed and qualified for Worlds and Nationals
Champion     Samuel Miller, Goulding (MA/RI)
2                  Tucker J. Hutchinson, Griffith (CT)

Boys under 15 - 5 placed and qualifed for Worlds and Nationals
Champion     Martin Bradshaw, Heavey Quinn (MA)
2                   Colin Dyson, Griffith (CT)
3                   Griffin Bartone, Griffith (CT)
4                   Thomas Murphy, McInerney (MA)
5                   Thomas Curran, Nevin Academy (MA)

Boys under 16 - 4 placed and qualifed for Worlds and Nationals
Champion    Tayler Nunes, Harney (MA)
2                  Kyril Wolfe, O'Shea-Chaplin (MA)
3                  Dylan Benkert, Shamrock (CT)
4                  Riq Lert, O'Shea-Chaplin (MA)

Boys under 17 - 3 placed and qualified for Worlds and Nationals
Champion    Conor McTavish, Brady (MA)
2                 Christian Cairone, Horgan (CT)
3                 Sean Downing, McFadden Academy (MA)

Boys under 18 - 5 placed and qualified for Worlds and Nationals
Champion   Conor O'Brien, O'Shea-Chaplin (MA)
2                 Kevin McCormack, O'Shea-Chaplin (MA)
3                 Ryan Murphy, Gilleoghan (CT)
4                 Shane Fitzgerald, Harney (MA)
5                 Shane Murphy, McInerney (MA)

Men 18-20 - 4 placed and qualified for Worlds and Nationals
Champion   Joe Harrison, O'Shea-Chaplin (MA)
2                 Ewan Foster, Smith Houlihan (MA)
3                 Mitch De Simone, Broesler (MD/NJ/NY)
4                 Mark Therriault, Dunleavy Shaffer (MA)

Men 20 and Over - 2 placed and qualified for Worlds and Nationals
Champion  Matt Mulvey, Gilleóghan (CT)
2                Zachary Warshaw, Short (EC)

For more results from the 2011 New England Oireachtas, see the Top 5 girl/ladies solo results and team results here on Go Feis! The Irish Dance Blog.

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