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Majorca Ballroom, Crosshaven, Co. Cork
Opened on
May 30th, 1963, the Majorca was the brainchild of Jeremiah (Jerry) and Mortimer
(Murt) Lucey.
With a 5,000 sq. ft. dance floor, it was one of the largest ballrooms in the
country with a capacity for 3,000 dancers.
Despite this size, the official capacity set by the court for the ballroom was
1,400 patrons, which we think was
exceeded on many occasions. In August, 1968 Murt Lucey was fined £10 for a crowd
of about 2,000 on May 4th, 1968 .
Built at a cost of £25,000, opening night included two bands, The Clipper
Carlton and Michael O'Callaghan's big band.
It also included the only revolving stage at the time in Munster. The ballroom
was used for dancing for over 25 years with the last
dance taking place in 1991.
The ballroom was sold in 1995 to become part of a boatyard expansion in
Crosshaven. Previous proposals to turn the
ballroom into a community center with an adjoining hotel had failed just a year
earlier. A fire did minor damage to the
derelict ballroom in 2004...it had been empty for years. The ballroom would be
demolished in late 2005 to make way
for outdoor boat storage.
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