'Are you going to the Hop?': How a group of youngsters helped revive a Cork club with music

GROWING up in Cork in the late ’50s and early ’60s was different. For us teenagers, the World War was mostly forgotten, and as we tried to figure out this embarrassing hormonal shift in our bodies, we were to experience a seismic change in our culture: the advent of Rock and Roll.

It crept in surreptitiously at first, as Radio Éireann continued to play the likes of Doris Day, Pat Boone, Ruby Murray and Brendan O’Dowda.

But a brash intrusion into our airwaves by Radio Luxembourg brought a different sound.

Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, Cliff Richard, Fats Domino and Ricky Nelson, they were our wavelength!

On Sunday nights, Radio Luxembourg’s Top Twenty was the programme that told us what was hot, and it wasn’t Doris Day!

Old 78 records were quickly obsoleted by 45s and we rushed to get our hands on these once they hit Cork’s music stores.

Our neighbourhood was a gathering place for teenagers of similar interests, boys hanging with boys and girls with girls.

The boys mostly played soccer and a desire to play competitively resulted in our decision to form a new club named Crofton Celtic.

Well, it really wasn’t a new club, as Crofton Celtic had existed in the neighbourhood in the 1950s but had disbanded as players moved on into their adulthood. But we felt we should revive the club and we did.

Starting a new club was a daunting experience for a bunch of teenagers, but somehow, with the leadership of Jim Murphy, we were ed and playing competitively.

As we progressed, we had to rise to the challenge of the cost of equipment and league hip, so we met to discuss how to raise funds.

I don’t know how it came about, but the idea of holding a Record Hop was suggested.

Father O’Leary Hall was approached and agreed to let the group rent the hall.

Barry O’Regan who was an electrician by trade, helped by providing the acoustics and Barry Stanton provided the turntable for playing the 45s.

We garnered the initial music from our own collections, d the first Record Hop by word of mouth, and we were off.

To say that the first night was a success would be stretching it, as we estimated that about 50 teens showed up, and that included ourselves.

However, we decided to push on and I creating handwritten slips of paper that we distributed to teens at our local schools advertising the next hop.

The word was out, and to our surprise, we had filled a void for teens who lacked a venue to enjoy the music that they loved.

The second night we were thrilled that almost 200 attended.

And then it just took off and to our amazement, we had to adjust to handling up to 500 people.

It was the place to be if you were a teen who wanted to dance and enjoy the music of our generation.

ission was a paltry shilling initially and the logistics of creating a cloakroom upstairs on rainy nights was a challenge, as people reclaimed their coats from the floor and John Leahy had the thankless role of judge and adjudicator over who owned what.

When I was given the role of Disc Jockey (DJ) it brought with it the task of going downtown to procure the hot new releases that would be played to a welcoming audience.

The DJing involved a simple ritual: just place three up-tempo songs on the turntable for jiving, then announce “Next Dance Please” and load three slow songs (or clingers as they were called).

The result? 500 teens jostling for positions as these music selections poured from the speakers and filled the hall.

A selection might have included:

Jive songs:

• Hello Mary Lou, by Ricky Nelson
• Wolverton Mountain, by Claude King
• Sea of heartbreak, by Don Gibson

Followed by slow dance songs:

• He’ll Have To Go, by Jim Reeves
• Only Make Believe, by Conway Twitty
• Are You Lonesome Tonight?, by Elvis Presley

The only variation to this ritual was the “ladies invitation”.

When announced, it was an opportunity for a girl to invite a boy to dance.

However, there seemed to be an unwritten rule that the girl would be expected to invite the boy who had just danced with her.

That worked well if the girl liked the boy, but if she didn’t, there would be a rush to the ladies’ room and hearts would be broken.

Were the hops a success? Yes, beyond our wildest dreams.

We eventually expanded to three nights a week and Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays were the “go to” place for teens whose parents didn’t want them going to adult Dance Halls.

The Hall Committee even had enough funds to do some renovations.

So, what did we do with all the money?

Well, we had John Corrigan, whose father ran a fruit-importing business, in charge of the funds and he did a great job.

One of our first collaborations was with Matthews Sports for equipment.

Bruce Matthews helped us with kits, balls and even a new crest that we designed ourselves and is still in use.

When we had to travel to away games, like Fermoy or Limerick, we would be driven in a Mercedes bus provided by a company on the Western Road.

We may not have had a great team, but we were definitely the best dressed.

There was one other programme that we held in Father O’Leary Hall that was a great success and in which I took great pleasure.

I was aware that one was able to obtain, rent-free, films of all Ireland hurling and football finals provided by a company that had the rights.

We ordered them, d the event, being careful not to mention that the event was being put on by a soccer club, and watched as the hall filled with GAA fans who thoroughly enjoyed the evening.

As a soccer player and someone who was not allowed to play Gaelic Football for my school, I felt in a small way I was getting even.

Of course, the hall was the ‘Ballroom of Romance’ for so many budding teens in those days, and I am aware of at least two couples who met their future spouses there.

Many a first date began there, many a first love blossomed and many a heart was probably broken for the first time.

But it was an exciting time to be alive and the music and the memories of those days linger on.

No internet, no phones, no Instagram, no WhatsApp, no Facetime, no Spotify, no Tik Tok, no Twitter, no Amazon, no Google, no Netflix.

It was a privilege to be a part of that generation, and I would love to hear from others who bloomed in those days.

While I am sure there were others in Crofton who contributed in those days, the names that come to mind are Jim Murphy, Barry O’Regan, Ger Lombard, John Corrigan, Barry Stanton, Michael O’Shea, Bertie Healy, Michael O’Mahony, Vincent Buckley — if I missed others, just that I’m a senior senior.