Below Mag Danieleen's was Paddy Coughlan's. Paddy came there from Dingle in Co. Kerry. He spoke very broken English as his native Language was Gaelic. Beside Coughlan's was Tim Mullins who had a Hackney business. Next to Tim Mullins was Liam O'Dwyer (my father). He and my mother Ella Mae Quille met and married in Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A. I was only three years old when we returned to Ireland. My sister Norelene was born in New York on the way home. On the way to Ardgroom my mother, in the pony and trap, was scared of her life. She wasn't used to mountains. Passing near the Lakes of Killarney, she used move to the far side of the trap as she thought that the mountains would fall down on top of her. My father built a dance hall. In the meantime three other members of the family were coming along:- Liam, Maura (now married to Batt Burns, the Seanchai) and Sean. The few "long dances" finished at midnight, and the normal dances finished at 10 p.m. For a good while, the Parish Priest (to put mildly) was not favourably disposed towards the dances as he looked on them as "occasions of sin". He would ask people in Confession if they were dancing in our hall the Sunday night before. On occasions he would walk into the hall, spread out his hands in a gesture that would say "All out" to those who would go out for him. At the time many people used be walking up and down the road in front of the hall afraid to go in. It wasn't until my father, cycling to Castletownbere one day, stopped the Parish Priest on the road and said to him: "May God forgive you, Father. You are taking the bread and butter out of the mouths of my children", that this nonsense stopped. The band consisted of my father playing the accordion and my mother playing the fiddle and concertina. There were no microphones in those days. The music consisted mostly of old time waltzes, sets (traditional Irish dancing), barn dances, the Stack of Barley, and two-steps. I was at the door, at the age of 6, collecting the 4 pences (approx. 4 cents later). One night a man from Kerry, seeing that I was so small, passed me in without paying. He went over to the right and sat down. Off I went after him looking for my four pence. I stayed at him for about 20 minutes until I got the four pence off him ---- but by then about half the hall had got in for nothing !! When I was 8 years old, I went up on the stage playing the accordion with my mother, and my father went on the door collecting the four pences. Bit by bit the remaining members of the family joined in the band:- Norelene on the concertina, Liam on the piano accordion and drums, Maura on the keyboard and concertina, and Sean on the concertina. Despite what was done to them as regards the dance hall in the early years, my father and mother, who were deeply religious, kept the Faith and attended Mass regularly. One time, during the War of Independence in Ireland, my father, who was an Officer in the Republican movement, was in Dublin on a mission. He went to Confession. The Priest refused to hear his Confession when he heard that my father was an Officer in the Republican Movement. So my father went next door to the next Priest who heard his Confession. 'Tis strange how the ways of the world change. The dance hall, which in early years had come under considerable opposition from the then Parish Priest, came in handy in 1994/1995, as Masses were held there while the Ardgroom Church was being renovated. To be continued -----. Regards, Riobard. -- I am using the free version of SPAMfighter. We are a community of 5.8 million users fighting spam. SPAMfighter has removed 1996 of my spam emails to date. Get the free SPAMfighter here: http://www.spamfighter.com/len The Professional version does not have this message