Mayo was the land of the thousand dances in the 1960s and early 1970s. The dance hall was the center of the social life of the county with up to 80 ballrooms and dance venues in Mayo alone. Some of the leading showbands were from the county - Jack Ruane Showband, Doc Carroll and his Royal Blues, Shay Cribben with The Riviera, and the Brose Walsh Band.

In an earlier era you had the orchestras or dance bands such as Stephen Garvey’s orchestra from Castlebar and the Jack Ruane Senior Orchestra from Ballina.

Mayo also had some of the finest ballrooms in the land  – in Ballina you had the Moyland, Pontoon was the pride of the west capable of holding 2,000 persons,The Palm Court in Belmullet  attracted people from all over Erris and beyond, The Grove in Bonniconlon covered North Mayo while The Central in Charlestown brought dancers from all over east Mayo and Roscommon.

A documentary on the dance halls and their role in the life of the communities will be created for this project. It will be filmed in HD and the film will be broadcast on Mayo TV.

Please note that the details of events listed above are provided by the relevant Local Authorities.