mayo help

[stephenite]

What's this craic about the Toureen Dancehall Devil? Any heard that before.

A strange fella turned up at Toureen Dancehall it its heyday (a thriving dancehall in the West of Ireland ran by Msgr Horan who would later go on to greater fame when he built Knock Airport). He was according to reports a handsome devil who starting dancing with all the ladies in a provocative way, the like of which was never seen before in those rural parts. Father Horan spent the night trying to separate him from the women and those who were there said he smelled of sulphur. He supposedly went off with one of the women before the night was over. The penny dropped that it was the Devil himself and everyone was afraid to go to the dancehall after that. Father Horan maintained to his dying day that it was Albert Reynolds who himself was running some rival dancehalls in Roscommon and the Midlands that set the whole thing up, in an effort to lure customers away from Toureen.

Those were the days.

Wouldn't put it past the bould Albert - great story Turlough

[youngfella]

lovely story 

[spectator]

Whatever happened that 'Save the West' campaign?

A young maiden was dancing called Bridget O'Flynn
Ah sure you'd swear her lips never knew the taste of a gin
But there came a dark stranger or so I have heard tell
Who said 'dance with me Bridget, oh what the Hell'
His eyes were a-burning; her heart was a-smile
And all the time Horan stayed counting the pile
But when the dark stranger arrived with her coat
She looked down and saw the cleft foot of a goat

http://www.rte.ie/news/features/review2008/news/1246841.html

"And we knew then that we were seeing and were privileged to share in a not small moment, but rather a moment of universal significance, a moment of passover. The Devil had danced his way into Tooreen in 1954. The Tiger was waltzing his way out in 2008. One of them had failed to make off with its soul - or at least with the soul of poor Bridget O'Flynn- in 1954, the other 50 years on was slinking away with its social heart. It was exactly 5.30pm. Night had closed in."

[puc me]

Thanks turlough if you don't already you should be working for Mayo tourist board

[Tubberman]

I remember our English teacher in St. Gerald's telling us that story of the Devil in Tooreen.

Got this from The Western People http://archives.tcm.ie/westernpeople/2002/05/22/story6231.asp

In the late 1970s, Michael Henry from Cappagh, Tooreen, who now resides in Oxford, wrote to the "Western Journal" newspaper (which then operated out of Ballina) rekindling debate on an event that had fascinated the people of the region 25 years earlier.
"One Sunday evening in 1954, some lads and I were standing outside Tooreen dance hall when we saw a local girl (who shall be nameless) coming out in the company of a tall, dark, very well-dress stranger.
"As they passed us, I noticed that there was something odd about the shape of his feet, and I said to a friend: 'He looks a fierce devil.'
"The couple got into a large black car which I had not noticed up to then, and as the engine started up I noticed a strong smell of sulphur from the exhaust.
"Suddenly, I heard the girl scream: 'Take your filthy paws off me, you dirty devil' and the car seemed to vanish, leaving the girl screaming by the roadside and a large black goat on the grass verge.
"At that point we rushed into the dance-hall crying that we had seen the Devil. People ran out to see, but as the crowd approached, the goat ran off leaving behind a patch of charred grass, where nothing has grown to this day.
"For the sake of the girl, things were kept quiet and it is only now that I am able to tell the true story and to refute the diabolical stories about me."

[the Deel Rover]

i was often told about the devil supposedly appearing at Pontoon Dance hall years ago, he must love the auld dancing  and as puc  said turlough you should definitely be working for the mayo tourist board

[Tubberman]

Actually now that I think of it, it was Pontoon, not Tooreen, that our English teacher was talking about. Jaysis there must have quare goings on in those dance halls 

[the Deel Rover]

the place must be full of horny devils

[Son_of_Sam]

Actually now that I think of it, it was Pontoon, not Tooreen, that our English teacher was talking about. Jaysis there must have quare goings on in those dance halls 

Ya I heard was the now disappeared Pontoon dance hall, but the story about the devil @ Pontoon is supposed to be a retell of a story about the Devil appearing down near Ballyhaunis, so that sounds very much like Toreen, I think the story origionated in Toreen & that the local parish priest made up the story to stop young ones (now old ones & middle-aged ones) dancing too close.

[FL/MAYO]

The dance hall in Claremorris was bombed twice in the 70's by a rival dance hall owner from Cong. Dangerous business owning dance halls back in the day.

[Farrandeelin]

The Ceide fields is further North but the scenery up around them parts is well worth the effort - stop off in Ballina and head for the Quay village, pop into John Keanes pub on the banks of the world renowned River Moy for the best pint of stout in Ireland, head next door and into Crocketts which won Irish pub of the year a few years back, take a stroll to look at the large stone ship that sits in the middle of the river.
Head back to Castlebar via the Lough drive around Conn and Cullen, taking in Crossmolina and Knockmore - into Healys for a spot of lunch, sit outside and admire the views across Lough Cullen.
This trip will also allow you to take in the real football heartland of Mayo.

If you do stop off in Ballina, as you pass the last small road into the left, just after the 50 kph speed limit, just give a wave as Farrandeelin (the townland) is in that road. God only knows where I could be!