March 13, 2015
Deirdre O’Mara is the owner of Deirdre O’Mara School of Irish Dance in Yonkers, N.Y. She is the co-chair of the Yonkers St. Patrick’s Day Parade on McLean Avenue in Yonkers, and is the former owner of Cafe Amici in Little Ferry. She lives on Prospect Street, and has been a Leonia resident for 10 years.
Q: Where did you grow up?
A: I was born and raised in a row house in Dublin, Ireland, the third of four children. When I was 1, my father had a devastating stroke at the young age of 36, with a wife and three children under 4 years of age. My mother, 27 at the time, went out to work, which was unheard of in those days. My dad lived another 42 years, brain-damaged and unable to speak, trapped in a body that didn’t function.
Q: How old were you when you started Irish dancing?
A: Three. I was very fortunate that my teacher, Marie Walsh, lived three houses up from us, so I was able to walk over and dance in her backyard shed/studio. She was tough and strict, and smoked cigarettes while she played the piano. When I saw the movie “Billy Elliott,” his dance teacher reminded me of her. Those dance lessons, as well as reading, helped me get through my childhood. I stopped dancing at 13, thinking I was too cool for this.
Q: When did you come to the U.S.?
A: I came with my best friend in 1986. We were both 18. Even though I had no knowledge of American life, besides the TV show “Starsky and Hutch,” I had dreamed from a young age of coming to America. I was the first of my siblings to do so. My older sister, Cathy (Mastrokostas), who also lives in Leonia, followed me here in 1989.
Q: What type of work did you do?
A: My first job in the U.S. was as a nanny in an opulent home in Ridgewood. It was like stepping off a black-and-white postcard onto a Hollywood movie set. Ridgewood was a picture perfect American town and a long way from Coolock where I grew up. My first night there, alone in an attic room, was the longest and scariest of my life. In the morning, the wife gave me a pile of her husband’s white lab coats to iron. The next morning, I found the same pile with a note on top. “Re-Iron.” I worked long days, for little pay. I ran away after five weeks and found work as a 9-to-5 nanny in Fort Lee, with a much nicer family.
Q: How long did you work as a nanny?
A: Not long. I started my own house-cleaning business. I learned how to clean from very demanding clients, and worked six days a week, for 11 years, saving everything I made. Eventually I hired help, including my sister Cathy, before she and her husband Vasili opened Leonia Cafe. (They now own Vasili’s Taverna in Teaneck). I was in the house cleaning business for a total of 14 years.
Q: How did you transition from a house cleaning business to owner of Cafe Amici in Little Ferry?
A: I always wanted to open a restaurant, a romantic notion very different from the reality. I bought Cafe Amici with a friend who had been a chef in Dublin. Sixteen weeks in, he left and I had to buy him out. I loved Cafe Amici, which was a combination tea house and European cafe. We were a destination place and had a loyal following. But between the cafe (cooking and hosting) and my dance school, I was working upwards of 100 hours a week. I gave up the cafe after four years.
Q: When did you start your Irish dance school?
A: About 20 years ago, on a trip back to Ireland, I went to a Ceile (Irish dance) with my godmother; I’d forgotten how much I loved it. I tried to find a school here that would teach adults. The teacher I eventually found was overwhelmed with all his students and asked if I would take on six of his young dancers in the Bronx. I accepted the challenge. My first studio was the backroom of a bar on Broadway. Before the lessons, I’d sweep the broken glass from the night before to get the “studio” ready.
Q: How did you become the chairperson of a St. Patrick’s Day Parade?
A: I’m very active in the McLean Ave Merchants Association. We thought it would be a great idea to have our own parade on McLean Avenue, also known as the Emerald Mile. Four years ago we held our first, and last year we merged with the official Yonkers parade. In 2014 we had 30,000 in attendance! The Emerald Mile was a parade waiting to happen. This year’s parade is March 21 at 1pm.
Q: What do you do in your spare time?
A: I try to see as many productions as possible at The Irish Arts Center in the NYC; they produce incredible work. I feel a great kinship with the playwright Martin McDonagh, who is English born of Irish parents. I’m also a big fan of the Tony award-winning musical “Once,” which I saw four times on Broadway. It’s a great portrayal of the immigration scene in Ireland today.
Q: What’s a favorite childhood memory?
A: Growing up, we lived just two miles from the sea. During the summer, we, along with the neighbor kids, would jump on our bikes and spend the day at the beach, unsupervised. We had such freedom. Ireland doesn’t have good beach weather but we knew no different. Cold air, cold water. It was lovely.
Q: What type of food do you most enjoy?
A: My favorite full Irish breakfast (outside of Ireland) is at Rory Dolans on McLean Avenue. Rashers (lean Irish bacon), bangers (sausages), fried eggs, grilled tomato, black and white pudding, and potato bread. Locally, I frequent Fontana de Trevi in Leonia, and of course my favorite restaurant is Vasili’s Taverna, where I always order the tilapia Mediterranean.
Q: What country have you most enjoyed visiting?
A: Italy was fantastic; I felt Italian there. My favorite place in Ireland is Achill Island, off the coast of Mayo. Costa Rica is on my wish list to travel to.
Q: What are your future plans?
A: I recently purchased a new studio, which at 3200 square feet, is three times larger than my previous one. My staff of seven teachers and I teach 200 students ages three and up, as well as adults, six days a week. Many of our students dance competitively, and do very well. Some of them just placed in the Top 10 in the Regional Championships in Philadelphia.
Q: Do you ever regret leaving Ireland?
A: No. Coming to America 29 years ago was the best thing I ever did. I’ve been able to appreciate my Irish identity here in a way I wouldn’t have if I had stayed in Ireland. I love that, if you put your mind to it, you can succeed here. America also allowed me to work through my sadness, to be open and honest. If I have any regret, it’s that I didn’t get to know my father due to his illness. But my mother let me read the 400 letters he wrote to her while they were courting. He too was a dancer and my dance studio is a living legacy to him.
Q: Do you have a philosophy you live by?
A: I look back on our difficult childhood and realize that everyone needs one person who believes in them and always has their best interests at heart. That one person can make a huge difference in life. For me, that person is my sister Cathy. She is my rock and I can’t imagine life without her unwavering love and support. At my dance studio, I go out of my way to be that one person for students who need support.
Q: What do you most like about Leonia?
A: It’s a quiet retreat for me. My life is very loud and energetic, being around music and dancing kids all day. When I come home, I like the peacefulness of my home and community, and enjoy a glass of wine either by my fire or on my porch.
Leonia Lives 