Curtain call as famed dance hall reduced to rubble

Distant memories of a bygone era were etched over a County Tyrone man's face as a well-known dance hall was reduced to rubble.

Former showband musician Vinny O’Donnell watched as equipment dismantled the once legendary Edendork Hall.

The 80-year-old spent much of the 1960s and '70s attending dances and playing in the venue, a stage that was also shared by the Dubliners, Christy Moore and Tom Jones.

“There are just so many memories of this wonderful place, it’s hard to believe it’s not going to be here anymore”, he said.

With its distinctive circular shape and huge chandeliers, the county Tyrone ballroom became known throughout the island of Ireland.

The building opened in 1963 and was officially known as St Malachy’s Hall.

It was the brainchild of a local priest who also helped design the buildings famous dome roof.

Fr Austin Eustace was also a nuclear physicist and established the world-famous Tyrone Crystal factory.

But to locals who have been around long enough to remember, he is still most well known for being connected to the hall that encapsulates so many memories from their youth.

After the showband era it became known mostly for its bingo nights and local drama productions.

For the guts of a quarter of a century the hall lay virtually dormant and fell into disrepair.

“I remember the famous showband singer Joe Dolan telling me that Edendork was the loveliest hall for decor and sound that he had ever played in,” said Vinny O’Donnell.

“I can still remember walking up those stairs and hearing the band playing and when you walked into that big circular hall, it took your breath away.

“The unique thing was, the mineral bar was on stage with the musicians, they served coffee and tea, no alcohol, but you could always slip outside with a wee bottle for Dutch courage or a quick snog, none of that was allowed in the hall back then.”

In recent years it was announced that planning permission had been granted to build a primary school on the site and that the hall would be knocked down.

In September 2022 BBC News NI cameras were granted access to capture the faded grandeur of the building before it was gone for good.

The demolition faced several delays, but two years on, the process of knocking down Edendork Hall began in October.

The social media videographer and Youtuber Owen McNutt, has been documenting the process.

Using drones, he has captured impressive footage of St Malachy’s Hall before, during and after demolition.

He said: “I would do a lot of urban exploration photography and so I took a keen interest in the hall about a year and a half ago and I was just blown away by it.

“I’ve lots of aerial footage of the building, just really so it was documented and recorded, it’s an important building in our recent history.”

“The preservation of the building became an important topic to me, I was hoping it could be saved, but unfortunately not.”

Earlier this year, Education Minister Paul Givan announced funding had been secured for a series of new school builds across Northern Ireland.

This included Edendork Primary School on the site of St Malachy’s Hall, with construction expected to commence next year.

Social media has been awash with people from Tyrone and further afield sharing their memories and pictures of the famous dance hall as it is being demolished.

Now the only remaining evidence of the hall is the structural back wall, which is expected to be demolished within days.

Soon rubble will be the only evidence of what once stood.

But Vinny O’Donnell is taking a reflective approach too.

“Of course it’s sad to see it go, it’ll be strange driving past and not seeing it standing there," he said.

“For so long it’s been a monument to that era, to better days, but we’ll always have the memories.”