Ryan, Patricia (1923-2011), ballet dancer and teacher

Patricia Ryan was born Mary Patricia Kinneen in London in 1923 to William Kinneen and Christiana Kelly. She trained with Nadine Legat in London until her family's move to Dublin in 1939, when she began taking lessons from and performing with Sara Payne. In 1956, having married the artist John Ryan, she became director of the National Ballet School in Dublin, which later evolved into the National Ballet Company. In 1963, the National Ballet Company amalgamated with Joan Denise Moriarty's Irish Theatre Ballet. The venture was short-lived and the company disbanded shorty after its first season. It also marked the end of Patricia Ryan's career in dance as teacher, dancer and choreographer.