The Quay Road Hall on Ann Thus complying with the terms of the
Street Ballycastle. Charitable Trust of 1895.
The original Quay Road Hall was
opened in February 1933 by Lady
Boyd who supplemented her original
gift of the land in 1895 by a donation
of £10 towards the hall building fund.
The late Hugh Alexander Boyd, who
specialised in the history of the
Church of Ireland parish of Ramoan,
wrote that the land on which the hall
is built was vested in the Diocesan
Board of Education by a deed dated
11th November 1895. The terms of
this document established a perpetual
trust for “certain particular charitable
objects”, namely an infant’s school.
In 1911 a new non-denominational
secondary school replaced the infant’s
school until it too was re-located.
Rental income for the school premises
had accrued and it was decided that
this fund could be used to build a hall.
The Diocesan Board of Education
agreed a hall could be built and
fundraising activities with individual
donations soon filled the building
fund.
By 1933 the hall was completed,
providing a venue, in the Diocesan
Education Board’s words “for every
form of parochial activity that can be
directed for the moral physical and
spiritual uplift of our young people.”
The hall quickly became a popular
venue for local social events such as
dances and drama productions put on
by local performers. One group, ‘The
Snowdrop Band’, was formed by the
retired Misses Miller of Whitehall to
recite poetry and produce plays.
During the war years when
Ballycastle was host to servicemen
from home and distant shores, the
American servicemen, in their well
tailored uniforms (everyone was a
General), held dances in the hall twice
a week. This is where Ballycastle first
got to hear the American ‘Big Band’
sound for real, learning the latest
American dances while mixing with
Canadians, Belgians and soldiers from
an assortment of British regiments.
Troops were stationed all around the
town. The Americans employed local
craftsmen to add buildings at their
base at Corrymeela, which they then
called “Camp Holiday”. Many of the
troops were here for training at
Magilligan Strand preparing for the
D-Day landings. In the first hour of
the landings on Juno Beach 1,000
young Canadian soldiers were killed,
including many who had stayed in
Ballycastle.
After a busy wartime the next players
in the hall’s musical history were the
“Showbands”. People came on foot,
by bus, tractor and train to see their
favourites at the Quay Road Hall.
Dick Greer managed the hall and got
his pal at the Flamingo Ballroom in
Ballymena to sign acts for Ballycastle,
even big names such as Englebert
Humperdinck and the Rolling Stones.
The pop music of the time was
dominated by America. There was
‘Swing’ (epitomised by Frank Sinatra
and Dean Martin), ‘Country’ (Tammy
Wynette, George Jones) and ‘Rock
and Roll’ (Elvis Presley, Beach
Boys), but with few of these acts
visiting Ireland, the Showbands
stepped in to do their own versions of
the hits of the day.
Their sound was much more relaxed
than the more brash American’s. The
main set-up was a core rhythm section
of electric guitar, (then still a new
fangled thing), bass and drums
providing a steady ‘clap along’ 4/4
beat with accordion, saxophone,
trumpet and piano (if there happened
to be one around), while the vocals
had an easy lyrical style the audience
could join in with. A typical
Showband set could include anything
from ‘My Way’ to Love me Tender
but also include traditional local songs
like ‘I’ll tell me Ma...’.
One of the most successful Irish
Showbands was The Indians, formerly
Casino. They were a very colourful
group of seven or eight performers
who dressed in Native American
outfits and adopted Indian stage
names. Their play list featured
‘Indian’ songs, some of which were
ahead of their time, songs like
“Cherokee People, Cherokee tribe.....”
which highlighted the history and
plight of the tribe in modern day
America. The remainder reflected the
pop charts of the day which together
with their stage presence has
maintained their popularity to the
present day.
Those days are best summed up in
these memories of one, not so young
Armoy man who was a regular at the
hall.
“Youngsters used to walk, aye walk for
miles from the country places even the
Glens, to get to the dances. If they were
lucky they might get a ride home on a
bus goin’ back to Ballymoney. They’d
pick people up on the way in, at places Begley and Susan McCann that always

like Dervock and the Dry Arch. got the boys attention.

The bands were a great attraction in There’s many a boy slept in a hayshed

them days. The “Indians”, “Brian Call too wet or too tired to walk home, only

and the Buckaroos”, even the “Rolling to wake up the next morning scratching

Stones” played on the Quay Road on himself with the mites all over his legs.

the way from the “Flamingo” in

I wonder what happened to “the Dixies,
Ballymena to “the port” and then on
John Glen, the “Cotton Mill Boys” and
into Donegal.
Dicky Rock? No doubt they’re like me

We had the “Miami Showband”there sitting by the fire somewhere dreaming

once, they were great. Peter Sharp and of those great nights driving an oul’ van

the two big Kieleys from Coleraine kept through black country lanes to a tin hall

the door, boy they were busy that night. in the middle of nowhere, passing the

youngsters in the glimmer of your

There was great music from some of
headlamps as they hasted there way to
the local boys too. The “Glen Country”
hear you play. Boys I always loved the
boys from Armoy, Paul, Harry and
sound of a saxophone on a winter’s
Barney Mulholland with Malachy
night.
Laverty. Then there was “Fiddling” Tom

Cameron, Jo Dolan and “the Drifters” The Quay Road Hall was my favourite

and the “Glenville Country Band”. in those days, that place would be full

to the doors and there would still be

Mind you the best two bands ‘round
more of them dancin’ outside. Aah them
here were “Big Tom and the Mainliners”
was the days!”
and the “Dave Glover Showband”, they

were the girls’ favourites. Then of

course it was the voices of Philomena