R - Comhaltas Archive

'Che Matchmaker"Researched by Kay LyonsThe Renagowl1 Dancehall 1928-19581939. Back row: Dan Paddy Andy, Mary, Kate, Front row: Patrick, Daniel Jnt;Andrew, Johnny, Jimmyfrom the cl ergy, especially for holdingdances during Lent. Fr William Ferri s,Clogher, did his utmost to close the hallbut 'an independence of thought'preva iled with the people of the StacksMountains and they continued tosuppo rt Dan Paddy Andy. Th eRenagown Dancehall was a verysuccessful venture and many aromance blossomed there. From time toti me plays and films were also staged inthe hall .'The ro le of the match maker in irelandin days gone by was a very importantsoc ial service w hich is at timesunderesti mated. 'Thi s was stated by Senator Labhras 6Murchu when he offi cially opened TheDan Paddy Andy Festiva l inLyreacrompa ne on September 17. DanPaddy Andy O'Sullivan, who was bornin 1899, was .. the 'LyrecrompaneMatchmaker.'Senator 6 Murchu sa id that it wasfitting th at peopl e like Dan Paddy Andywould be remembered and his work forhi s community ce lebrated: He was aman of great vision and estab li shed anumber of dancehalls in his time. Hewas a very co lourful character and wasa central focus for mu ch of the folkloreof the area.The skill of the matchm aker was oftenca lled upon when people w ho li vedmiles apart had little chance ofmeeting. The matchmaker might beapproached by either a young manlooking for a 'good woman' or a girl'sfather looking for a 'suitable partner' forhis daughter.Crossroads dancing was popular inLyreacrompane distri ct and Dan PaddyAndy, being a man of great vision sawan opportunity of introducing a dancehall . in 1928 he opened his first hall atRenagow n Cross. Here he ran danceson Sundays and holidays fro m 6.30pmuntil 1 0.30pm during the w inter and7.00pm until 11 .00 in the summer.The entry charge to the hall was 3d(1. 25p). it was mainly loca l musiciansw ho pl ayed there, Dan Brosnan, DanCanty, Tom Doran, and Ebbie Somers.Paddy, Dan's Son also played there onoccasions. The fee paid for a night'smusic was normally 5s (25p). The mostpopular dances at the time were theHalf Set, the North Kerry Polka set theO ld Time Waltz, Hornpipes and Reels.Dan came under strong oppos itionDance Hallsin 1934 Dan Paddy purchased someground at Fahad uff from JuliePembroke. Fahaduff in CastleislandPari sh, is seven miles from RenagownCross on the LyreacrompaneCastleisland/Limeri ck road. Here heerected his second dance hall alongw ith a shop. Thi s hall was forty feet bytwenty feet, it had six w indows andthree doors. Th e first dance was heldon June 9 th 1935, the second and lastdance was run on June 16 th of thesame yea r. The hall was not a successfo r Dan because of the opposition ofthe loca l clergy.O n the 19 th Feb ruary 1935 a Pu blicDance Hall order was enacted by theO ireachtas of Saorstat Eireann . Allvenu es used fo r pu bli c dancing had tobe li censed.Dan applied for a dance licence to runboth dancehall s. He successfully20 ____________________________________________________ _