Joan Denise Moriarty (died 24 January 1992) was an Irish ballet dancer, choreographer, teacher of ballet and traditional Irish dancer and musician. She was a key figure in the development of both amateur and professional ballet in Ireland. Early life Little is known of Moriarty's early life. Her year of birth is estimated between 1910 and 1913 but no documentation has been found. The place of her birth is also unknown, and even the country is uncertain. She grew up as the daughter of Michael Augustus Moriarty (an alumnus of Stonyhurst College and contemporary of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) and his wife, Marion (née McCarthy); John Francis Moriarty, Lord Justice of the Court of Appeal in Ireland, was her uncle. The Moriartys were originally from Mallow, County Cork, where her grandfather John Moriarty was a successful solicitor. Moriarty was brought up in England, possibly in Leeds, or Liverpool, where she was living in the 1930s. She studied ballet until her early teens with Dame Marie Rambert. How long she was enrolled in the Rambert School is not known, as there are no records of students, but only of performers, but her training there was referenced by Dame Ninette de Valois. She was an accomplished Irish step-dancer and traditional musician, and became the champion Irish stepdancer of Britain on 24 April 1931. She also won a swimming championship. She was a member of the Liverpool branch of the Gaelic League. Her early dance and music awards include: 1931 London: Champion Irish Stepdancer of England at the London Irish Step Dance Championship. Gold Medal 1932 Dublin: Highly commended for solo war pipes at the Tailteann Games 1933 Killarney: Winner of the Munster Open Championship in solo war pipes 1933: Participated in the solo war pipes competition at the Scots Gathering and Highland Games at Morecambe and Heysham in Lancashire Return to Ireland In the autumn of 1933, she returned with her family to their native Mallow in County Cork. In 1934, she set up her first school of dance there. From 1938 she also gave weekly classes in Cork in the Gregg Hall and Windsor School. During the 1930s she took part in the Cork Feis, annual art competitions with a focus on traditional dance and music, competing in Irish step-dancing, war pipes and operatic solo singing. She performed on the war pipes in various public concerts and gave at least two