Music & Dancing

The world of Irish Country Music was under a deep shadow this week at the passing of Big Tom McBride. The Mainliners and he played together from 1963 to 1975 and when they broke up in May 1975 [...]

Last October’s Late Late with Ryan Tubridy must have brought back memories for many of the country and Irish days that are now making another comeback. Who better to personify those days than Big [...]

The world of Irish country music was greatly saddened by the news of the death of Gene Stuart from Killeeshill, Dungannon, Co. Tyrone on the 11th February 2016 at his home after battling with [...]

Martin Judge built The Grove in 1950 and the first dance was on the 20th May 1951, with Jack Ruane and His Band and the admission was 5s. Martin Judge bought the site for The Grove from the [...]

Jim Tobin started his career with “The Firehouse” in 1969, after singing with a local band in Co. Meath called “The Craftsmen”. He spent the next 12 years with them at the [...]

The country house dances were once an important part of the social calendar of the rural parts around and indeed in Ballina. They were called balls and they were held to celebrate special events [...]

The Late Late Show paid tribute to the development of Country and Irish music over 50 years in recent months. And what of the songs from Irish artistes that made the charts in 1966 and were at [...]

Lent was the traditional time for no dances in former times. Yet the ballrooms of the country did not remajn silent they merely changed their form of entertainment when the people of the area and [...]

This ballroom was one of the many halls dotted around the county Mayo in rural areas when there was a much larger population in the countryside and people were very fond of dancing and had danced [...]

Martin Judge built The Grove in 1950 and the first dance was on the 20th May 1951, with Jack Ruane and His Band and the admission was 5s. Martin Judge bought the site for The Grove from the [...]