Ballroom of Romance exhibition open at Mayo's Linenhall

A LITTLE bit of Hollywood came to Ballycroy back in the early 1980s when the film The Ballroom of Romance was shot there.

It featured stars such as future Oscar winner Brenda Fricker, Tourmakeady native Mick Lally, John Kavanagh, Brendan Conroy, Niall Toibin and Cyril Cusack, and many local people were recruited as extras.

Photographer Terry O'Brien, then living in Achill, dropped by the set during filming and now, 40 years on, will take fans on a behind the scenes tour of the film with a fascinating new photographic exhibition that has opened at the Linenhall Arts Centre in Castlebar.

The film, set in 1950s Ireland, tells the story of Bridie's search for a husband, now that she is gone past the first flushes of youth. There are slim pickings to choose from at the local hall in terms of romance. But, of course, there's always one possibility, even if he doesn't appear very suitable - enter the alcoholic Bowser Egan.

O'Brien's exhibition opened last week and even as it was being hung on the walls, it drew lots of curiosity from visitors to the centre. It will be on display until June 30.

Post-exhibition, Terry is keen that this unique Mayo archive will find a permanent home in the county.

The exhibition, he explained, features 48 previously unseen images from the film, which was shot in Ballycroy in 1982. They include the lead actors as well as many more familiar local faces who were extras.

The prints were produced in Terry's then dark room - an old cow shed in Achill.

There are also 23 black and white photos taken in the Achill area in the 1970s featuring everyday images such as yawl racing, local fishermen, and still lifes such as lobster pots.

Living in Achill at the time, Terry went along to the Ballroom set to take a few shots. The film was a joint RTÉ/BBC production.

As it happened, John Kavanagh, who played Bowser Egan, was a neighbour of his back in Dublin and he had no problem getting onto the set. "Nobody bothered me and I went around having the craic with everybody," he said.

He showed a few printed photos to the film’s director, Pat O’Connor, to see if he could sell them. Kenneth Trodd, producer with the BBC, requested photos of boys on bicycles and they ended up being used on media publicity for the film. This image features on a colour poster in the exhibition.

Terry was reunited with Pat O'Connor in Ballycroy five years ago when the acclaimed director launched Film Mayo, recounting his days of working in the county in the '80s with great affection.

The craic off camera was as good as some of the action on it.

Terry recalled that the local sergeant played the role of the barman. In order to get extras for the film, some locals who were on the dole had to sign off for the period.

"The sergeant was the local dole officer, who signed the forms. So people had to go in and sign off and then go into the next room to get a haircut for the film," he explained.

Most of the people involved in the production stayed in Achill and there were two hours of free drinking after shooting every day.

On one occasion, Mick Lally, John Kavanagh and Kenneth Trodd were in the Amthyest Hotel in Keel and invited Terry to have a drink with them. He suggested they pay a visit to Bunnacurry dance hall.

There was some hesitation, that he was 'setting them up'. Terry just wanted to show them that dancing hadn't changed in the 30 years from the '50s film they were shooting - women on one side of the hall, the men on the other.

Bridie may have been on the lookout for love in the Ballroom of Romance, but Terry certainly has had a long love affair with Achill, stretching back over 60 years.

At 13, he went on holidays to Currane House, Currane Peninsula, with a boys club from Dublin.

He said: "I used to wander off around Currane. I came across the Fallon family in Ards in Currane and they were saving the hay, which I had never seen before. I gave them a hand. I made friends with the people of Currane and went back the next year."

There followed, at the age of 17, an epic trip west when he cycled from Dublin to Achill. That was in 1968. The trip took four days.

The move became permanent for a number of years when, in the late '70s, he set up a studio and photography business in Tonragee.