Patricia Early-McLoughlin was born in Birmingham, England to Irish parents. Her late father James, hailed from County Leitrim and her late mother Margaret, from Mayo. Her earliest dance lessons were under such notables as Prof. McKenna, Peggy Henry and Joey Flynn. She continued her studies, and under the direction of Peter Smith, won many championship titles throughout the USA and Canada. In 1968, Patsy opened her first dancing school in upper Manhattan and after moving to New Jersey opened classes throughout Northern New Jersey. Patsy’s children Deirdre, Roisin and Christopher all took dancing in the school. Deirde and Roisin competed at the highest levels and Deirdre went on to achieve her TCRG in 1998. Christopher and Roisin are both accomplished musicians and Chris in particular is a very familiar face at most feisanna in North America. Patsy until recently held the office of Treasurer of the Mid Atlantic Region of the IDTANA and is still a very active member of the association on both a local and national level. Patsy as the principal of the dance school promotes an atmosphere of friendship and camaraderie as well as that of competition. This is evident by the number of former pupils who are in constant communication with her and the number of second and third generation students she now teaches.
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