Larry Cunningham & The Mighty Avons

To drive today from Foxford or Ballina to Castlebar, through the beautiful and breathtaking scenery of Pontoon and along the winding road from Healy’s Hotel skirting Lough Cullin, the smaller of the two lakes comprising Pontoon Lakes, one will find no trace whatsoever, indeed not a brick remaining, of the famous west of Ireland dancehall that once stood here.
Sad to relate when, in its heyday, “all roads in the West led to Pontoon for your dancing pleasure” and this venue hosted most if not all of the major touring showbands of the time. This was a time when the dance halls of Ireland were in full swing, and bands comprising seven or eight members were gainfully employed playing a number of nights in the week, throughout Ireland, and England, with some bands also having the opportunity to play venues in the USA.
A number of older readers of The Harp with connections to this part of County Mayo will, I am sure, recall this leading dancing venue and will have themselves danced the night away there. Indeed, they may have met their lifetime partner there.

The Johnny Flynn Showband

All that remains now at the spot where Pontoon Hall stood, with the majestic Lough Cullin as its backdrop, is a patch of land overgrown with grass and weeds. To pull up and stand here now, and even though I danced here many years ago, I find it difficult to picture that “magical place” here where back in those times dance-goers thronged in great numbers, with the hall “bursting at its seams” when a big attraction band was playing. The sound of the bands was not constrained by the walls of the hall, particularly when a lively brass section was in full flight, and the music would waft out over the still waters of Lough Cullin, illuminated by the moonlight and covered by an umbrella of stars. A recollection that, indeed, becomes more romantic with the passage of time.
I grew up in England (albeit in a closely-knit Irish community in one of its major cities), but long summer holidays would be spent “back at my roots” in the Foxford area (where I have now returned to live). In later years, in my early 20’s, on holiday from England complete with a Morris Minor 1000, later a Morris “Mini”, and in the company of cousins and friends, I went to many dance venues throughout the west of Ireland. I recall visits to, for example, the Marine at Enniscrone, the Starland in Ballina, the Palm Beach in Belmullet, the Beaten Path at Balla, Tooreen Hall near Kilkelly, the Town Hall in Swinford, the Crystal in Kiltimagh, and the Royal, Castlebar, but my all time favourite has to be Pontoon Hall, my local “Ballroom of Romance”.

A packed dancehall

This was the late 60’s/early 70’s and, best-suited, our night generally would start with a visit to, say, Mike O’Hara’s Singing Lounge in Foxford “for a few jars”. This “prepared” us for the dance, particularly, as the dance halls were “dry”, with only teas and minerals served to quench the thirst of the ardent “hoofers”. These were the days when “drink-driving” was, perhaps, not the major problem that it has become today in Ireland, with its many tragic outcomes.
Once we were “watered” we would head for the dance at Pontoon. On nearing the hall we would meet the back of a long line of cars parked along the side of the road leading to the hall. Inevitably, it would be the same on the far side of the hall. There was nothing for it but to park up and walk the distance to the hall, made all the longer if a “big band” was in action that night and a big crowd had been drawn, and not particularly pleasant if it happened to be raining, on your best suit and all.
We would join the back of the queue waiting to go in, eventually reaching the foyer and proffering our entrance money (a number of shillings as I recall) through a small hatch and being handed an entrance ticket which was immediately taken from us by a doorman, enabling us to gain entry to the dancefloor. A wall of heat would meet us, and we would battle our way through the crowd to a vantage point where the “talent” and goings-on could be viewed and commented upon.
Invariably, and characteristic of the dancehalls in those days, the young ladies would “line” the walls waiting to be asked to dance. It seemed to me that very often the more comely members of the species would be pushed to “the back” whilst others perhaps more challenged in looks and presentation might thrust themselves to the fore in the hope of attracting a dance partner. This, inevitably, necessitated one having to reach over “the front line” to access the lady who was the focus of one’s interest!
I was told that it was not unknown for the ladies to discreetly examine the back of a gentleman’s jacket for creases, which might indicate that he was a car owner/driver, and thus, in the pecking order of such things, had enhanced “eligibility”, as opposed to the non-car owner!
Your invitations to the ladies to dance would be accepted and refused, depending on how one’s luck ran on the night. More than one dance with the same female was encouraging, and if she actually agreed to “go for a mineral” with you then you were made up for the night, as such acceptance, in the social protocol of the times, generally meant that she would be your partner for the rest of the evening and that you had every chance of “taking her home” (just to her doorstep that is!).
I recall dancing in Pontoon Hall to showbands such as Larry Cunningham and The Mighty Avons, “Mick Del”, Johnny Flynn, Donie Collins, The Premier Aces, Houston Wells and The Marksman, Dickie Rock and The Miami, Brendan Bowyer and The Royal, Butch Moore and The Capital, and Eileen Reid and The Cadets.
Ballroom of Romance it was, and it was good harmless fun at the time (apart from the odd altercation dealt with by the doormen). No lifelong romance emerged from my encounters there, however, in the awakening years of my teens and twenties , it wasn’t for the sake of trying!