Small discovered avenues for exploring her Irish heritage on campus. (Courtesy of Allie Small for The Fordham Ram)

Many people are proud of their heritage, while some know little about it at all. In New York City, where 5.3% of the population is Irish American, Fordham University is a home to many Irish folk. One of those people is Allie Small, FCRH ’24.

“Where I grew up, I wasn’t surrounded by a strong Irish community, and I had a huge fear of losing touch with my connections to Ireland in terms of family and culture (so much so that I wrote my Common App essay about it),” Small said. “When I came to Fordham, I found an Irish community full of people I could relate to in a way that I could never really relate to my peers at home, and plenty of opportunities to further my connection to my Irish heritage.” 

As a biology major on the pre-health track, STEM has always been at the forefront of Small’s mind, but in her heart, she’s always loved exploring her heritage.

Starting her dancing career at age four, Small stepped her way through multiple studios and performed at the national level for about a decade before coming to Fordham. Most importantly, what kept her going for so long was the unity and friendships that were made through dance.

“It’s a big community. There’s a certain connection that you can make with people, from things like the competition circuits. When I came to Fordham, I knew a lot of girls that I grew up competing with and against who were already on Sláinte, so it was a community building thing for me here as an incoming freshman,” she said.

Serving as co-president of Sláinte, Fordham’s Irish Dance troupe, Small choreographs, leads practices and dances weekly among 18 dancers. They dance to traditional routines like Michael Flatley’s “Riverdance” to modern-pop songs like “Angel” off of the Barbie soundtrack. 

The goal is to spread awareness of the talent and beauty of Irish dance by competing in competitions as well as performing in Fordham events like Keating Steps and Maroon Mainstage.

Aside from that, Sláinte hosts their annual Irish Night, celebrating Irish dance and music with families and friends in the Fordham community. More importantly, Small is hoping to establish an alumni network to unite the community more after COVID-19 severed some ties.

“During COVID, we couldn’t really have guests at Irish Night, and so previous members that had been involved with Sláinte couldn’t come back and lost touch with the club. So this year and last year, we’ve been running events that alumni can come back to and stay involved with the Fordham community and also the Irish dance community,” she said.

Outside of that, Small is also a host on Ceol na nGael, WFUV Radio’s Irish music program. Named “Music of the Irish,” Ceol na nGael is the most popular irish radio show in New York City and is run by student DJs like Small every year.

But originally, Small had no interest in taking up something like a radio host job. “The last two hosts were both on Sláinte with me, and we had talked about Irish music and they recommended that I apply to be a production assistant on the show. I was really torn about it because I was not a communications major and it wasn’t something I was going to pursue career wise.”

But what brought Small back to the role? Her own family. “My grandpa used to listen to Ceol na nGael every Sunday. It would be silence in the house, radio on, no one is allowed to speak, just listening to Ceol na nGael. It’s just so special because it’s definitely a family thing, you hear it from a lot of people in New York City. That was some of their formative experiences with Irish music.”

You’ll find Small spending basically every Sunday in the WFUV studio. Ceol na nGael runs from 12-4 p.m. on Sunday, featuring Irish news and music, spreading the love of Irish culture to not just the Fordham community, but beyond.

Things are looking green for Small as she is hopeful for the future with events Sláinte has planned for the year, as well as what she hopes to accomplish later on. 

But more importantly, she’s proud of what she’s done at Fordham to leave a lasting legacy in not just the classroom, but in developing a community of fellow Irishmen and women.

“I prioritized taking advantage of opportunities like joining Sláinte and Ceol na nGael and all the connections that come with it because it truly is a privilege to have access to a strong Irish community that I can relate to. I only hope it continues even after I leave Fordham.”