The Tiernan Irish Dancers, a traditional Irish step-dancing school and performance group, was founded in Boise, Idaho and Butte & Helena, Montana in January 2004. The dancers range in age from 5-18 years.

At the Montana Gaelic Festival in Butte, Montana in August, 2003, Trinity Academy of Irish Dance founder and artistic director, Mark Howard fell in love with the "passion to learn" that he discovered in the children out here. After years of requests by Irish dance organizations in the West, Trinity became the first Midwest/Eastern program to answer the much-needed call for elevated consistency, professionalism and expertise.

The name Tiernan (which is a synonym for Trinity and means "God") was chosen and the three-city Tiernan Irish Dance organization was born. Tiernan is now the sister school of Chicago, Milwaukee and Madison's Trinity Academy of Irish Dance. Trinity has won an unprecedented 24 world titles for the United States and is considered to be one of the most widely recongnized Irish Dance programs in the World. www.trinity-dancers.com

Ellen Gahl Waller, T.C.R.G. gained her extensive knowledge of Irish Dance at the McGing Irish Dancers in Cincinnati, Ohio. Since the age of nine, she has worked diligently towards the career she now holds with the Trinity Irish Dancers. Her days of assisting classes in Cincinnati and love of the form led to her Ohio State University degree in Dance Education. Ellen holds a BA in the Personalized Study Program, specializing in Irish Dance Education. She exploded onto the performing arts scene in 2002 after being signed by the Trinity Irish Dance Company. Ellen is currently the Performance Manager for the Trinity Irish Dancers and the lead Tiernan instructor.

Bekah Wheeler, T.C.R.G. started dancing when she was fifteen years old and was taught by David Chase, T.C.R.G. of Treasure Valley Academy. A bit of a late start, but that did not hold her back from her love of dance. With that love came determination and the love of teaching, and Bekah was recognized for her teaching skills less than two years after starting Irish dance. With that, came her desire to reach her ultimate goal of dancing by developing the tools to inspire others to reach the goals they can only dream about.

In 2006, Bekah passed her T.C.R.G. exam with honors and became the lead local instructor for Tiernan in Idaho and Montana. She works every day to make every dancer’s goals just one step closer and with the training and teaching from Trinity Academy instructors, she is guided by the best in the world.