Irish Points: The Guide

Introduction

What are Irish Points?

Irish points are scoring system layered on top of the grades single judge scoring system that allows multiple judges to collectively determine the ranking of a competition. While confusing at first glance, the Irish point system is actually quite simple. No calculus is required, only addition and division are needed to calculate the final ranking.

The Irish points system is a way to normalize the marks given by the judges to ensure that the final ranking reflects the dancer's abilities and how well they performed.

Irish points accomplish two goals:

Normalize the given marks so that each judge's scores have the same weight when determining the final ranking.
Give higher marks more weight in the final ranking and give less weight to lower marks.

Practically, Irish points are given based on your rank from each individual judge. These points are then summed to determine your final score and rank.

Why Irish Points?

In championship, dancers are scored in the same way they are in grades. Judges individually determine a mark for the dancer for each round. Theoretically, each judge would give each dancer the same mark. However different judges do not see the same things and judges use different methods to keep track of dancers' performances. This means that only the marks from the same judge can be compared.

Distribution of Marks

Calculating Final Ranks

Calculating the final ranks of the dancer appears complicated, but it can be done in five simple steps.

Sum the marks given to each dancer by judge.
Use the summed marks to determine the ranking of each dancer by judge.
Convert the ranks to the corresponding Irish points value.
Sum the Irish points awarded to the dancer from every judge.
Use the total Irish points earned to determine the final ranking.

Now to calculate the final ranks for dancers in a championship style, two or three round, three judge competition using Irish points.

Step One

Sum the Marks

The first step is to sum the marks given in each round by judge. The sample marks provided below will be used throughout all steps of this calculation.

	Hard Shoe Round			Soft Shoe Round			Set Dance Round
Dancer	Judge A	Judge B	Judge C	Judge A	Judge B	Judge C	Judge A	Judge B	Judge C
1008	86	84	82	83	82	83	87	85	84
1025	88	87	85	90	83	88	88	87	92
1093	80.5	80	82.5	82.5	81	81.5	81	81	80
1129	81	79	73	77	79	71	80	80	75
1141	87	86	84	86	86	87	86	74	82
1161	85	77	76	82	78	80	82	78	78
1359	83	85	86	85	85	84	83	83	80
1386	89	88	90	90	88	89	89	86	84
1414	82	82	83	81	84	82	85	84	81
1493	80	78	70	78	77	71	75	77	76
1504	84	80	79	80	76	72	78	75	75
1531	85.5	83	81.5	87	80	80	79	79	72
1578	91	87	81	89	87	82	90	83	80

	Hard Shoe Round
Dancer	Judge A	Judge B	Judge C
1008	86	84	82
1025	88	87	85
1093	80.5	80	82.5
1129	81	79	73
1141	87	86	84
1161	85	77	76
1359	83	85	86
1386	89	88	90
1414	82	82	83
1493	80	78	70
1504	84	80	79
1531	85.5	83	81.5
1578	91	87	81
	Soft Shoe Round
Dancer	Judge A	Judge B	Judge C
1008	83	82	83
1025	90	83	88
1093	82.5	81	81.5
1129	77	79	71
1141	86	86	87
1161	82	78	80
1359	85	85	84
1386	90	88	89
1414	81	84	82
1493	78	77	71
1504	80	76	72
1531	87	80	80
1578	89	87	82
	Set Dance Round
Dancer	Judge A	Judge B	Judge C
1008	87	85	84
1025	88	87	92
1093	81	81	80
1129	80	80	75
1141	86	74	82
1161	82	78	78
1359	83	83	80
1386	89	86	84
1414	85	84	81
1493	75	77	76
1504	78	75	75
1531	79	79	72
1578	90	83	80

Starting with dancer 1008, summing the marks given by each judge will give the total marks for this dancer.

	Judge A	Judge B	Judge C
Hard Shoe Round	86	84	82
Soft Shoe Round	83	82	83
Set Dance Round	87	85	84
Total Marks	256	251	249

Marks Awarded to Dancer 1008

Performing the same action with the rest of the competitors gives the following total marks.

Dancer	Judge A	Judge B	Judge C
1008	256	251	249
1025	266	257	265
1093	244	242	244
1129	238	238	219
1141	259	246	253
1161	249	233	234
1359	251	253	250
1386	268	262	263
1414	248	250	246
1493	233	232	217
1504	242	231	226
1531	251.5	242	233.5
1578	270	257	243

Total Marks Awarded

Step Two

Determine Each Judge's Ranking

The next step is to determine the rank each competitor received by each judge. This is simply done by ordering the competitors by their total marks.

Dancer	Total Marks	Rank
1578	270	1^st
1386	268	2^nd
1025	266	3^rd
1141	259	4^th
1008	256	5^th
1531	251.5	6^th
1359	251	7^th
1161	249	8^th
1414	248	9^th
1093	244	10^th
1504	242	11^th
1129	238	12^th
1493	233	13^th

Ranks Awarded by Judge A

Performing the same action with the rest of the judges gives the following ranks.

Dancer	Judge A	Judge B	Judge C
1008	5^th	6^th	5^th
1025	3^rd	2^nd - T	1^st
1093	10^th	8^th - T	7^th
1129	12^th	10^th	12^th
1141	4^th	4^th	3^rd
1161	8^th	11^th	9^th
1359	7^th	5^th	4^th
1386	2^nd	1^st	2^nd
1414	9^th	7^th	6^th
1493	13^th	12^th	13^th
1504	11^th	13^th	11^th
1531	6^th	8^th - T	10^th
1578	1^st	2^nd - T	8^th

Ranks Awarded

Notice that there are two set of ties from Judge B.

Competitors 1025 and 1578 tied for 2^nd.
Competitors 1531 and 1093 tied for 8^th.

This will affect the Irish points awarded to each dancer in the next step.

Step Three

Convert the Ranks to Irish Points

The next step is to convert the ranks from each judge into the corresponding Irish point value. The number of Irish points each rank receives is predetermined for places 1-50. All dancers beyond 50^th place receive 0 points.

Rank	1^st	2^nd	3^rd	4^th	5^th	6^th	7^th	8^th	9^th	10^th	11^th	12^th	13^th	14^th	15^th	16^th	17^th	18^th	19^th	20^th	21^st	22^nd	23^rd	24^th	25^th	26^th	27^th	28^th	29^th	30^th	31^st	32^nd	33^rd	34^th	35^th	36^th	37^th	38^th	39^th	40^th	41^st	42^nd	43^rd	44^th	45^th	46^th	47^th	48^th	49^th	50^th
Irish Points Awarded	100	75	65	60	56	53	50	47	45	43	41	39	38	37	36	35	34	33	32	31	30	29	28	27	26	25	24	23	22	21	20	19	18	17	16	15	14	13	12	11	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1

Irish Point Conversion Table

Extended Points

In certain scenarios dancers beyond 50^th place receive “extended” Irish points. This is to avoid ties in the final ranking of large competitions. These values are not standardized and are determined by the group tabulating the results.

For the most part, the conversion of rank into Irish points is straightforward. Each rank has one corresponding point value, the only complication is ties. Just like with most competitions, ties cause ranks to be skipped. This can be seen with the ranks awarded by Judge B. There is a two way tie for 2^nd, which causes 3^rd place to be skipped and there is a two way tie for 8^th, which causes 9^th place to be skipped.

However the points for the skipped places are still awarded. The points for the tied place and all skipped places are summed and divided equally amongst the dancers that have tied.

Rank	...	2^nd	3^rd	...	8^th	9^th	...
Irish Points Awarded	...	75	65	...	56	53	...

Irish Point Conversion Table

Calculating the number of Irish points the dancers in 2^nd and 8^th receive:

2^nd Place

75 + 65

8^th Place

47 + 45

Converting the rest of the ranks into Irish points:

Dancer	Judge A	Judge B	Judge C
1008	56	53	56
1025	65	70	100
1093	43	46	50
1129	39	43	39
1141	60	60	65
1161	47	41	45
1359	50	56	60
1386	75	100	75
1414	45	50	53
1493	38	39	38
1504	41	38	41
1531	53	46	43
1578	100	70	47

Irish Points Awarded

Step Four

Determine the Total Irish Points Received by Each Dancer

The fourth step is to sum the Irish points awarded to each dancer from every judge. This will produce the value that will determine the final ranking.

Irish Points Awarded to Dancer 1008

56 + 53 + 56 = 165

Two Rounds

For a two round competition the Irish points awarded would be summed in the same manner. The only difference would be that there are two values to add instead of three.

Adding up all of the Irish points awarded by the judges gives the following totals.

Dancer	Total Irish Points
1008	165
1025	235
1093	139
1129	121
1141	185
1161	133
1359	166
1386	250
1414	148
1493	115
1504	120
1531	142
1578	217

Total Irish Points Awarded

Step Five

Determine the Final Ranking

The easiest step is determining the final ranking. Sort all the dancers by the number of Irish points they received. The dancer with the most points wins.

Dancer	Total Irish Points	Rank
1386	250	1^st
1025	235	2^nd
1578	217	3^rd
1141	185	4^th
1359	166	5^th
1008	165	6^th
1414	148	7^th
1531	142	8^th
1093	139	9^th
1161	133	10^th
1129	121	11^th
1504	120	12^th
1493	115	13^th

Final Ranking

This is the final ranking of the dancers that will be awarded at the competition.

Conclusion

Understanding Irish Points

Hopefully this guide has helped you understand the Irish point system. It appears complicated at first glance, but it can be reduced to a few simple steps that are easy to wrap your head around once you know what they are. Please share this guide with any new championship family to help them understand their dancers' marks and ranking. If you have any questions or any suggestion to better this guide, please reach out through Planxti's contact page.

Bonus

Round Medals

Feiseanna will usually award round medals before awarding the overall winners of a championship competition. Round medals are usually awarded by selecting a random judge from each round and using their ranking to award the medals. With this method it's possible that a dancer could win two or three round medals and not make it into the top three of the final ranking. While rare, it's also possible that they could win a medal in each round but not place in the top half.

Global Search