Site of Palm Court Ballroom

The Oliver Plunkett Bar is a welcoming venue that is a strong ambassador in providing a regular platform to live music in Cork city centre.

In Rory Gallagher’s youth the site was known as the Palm Court Ballroom.

Rory was eager to form a band but struggled to find anyone in Cork who shared his interest. In the summer of 1963, he searched local newspapers and came across an advert from brothers Oliver and Bernie Tobin, who were looking for a lead guitarist to join the Fontana Showband.

The six-piece ensemble played the popular hits of the day with Bernie Tobin on trombone, Oliver Tobin on bass, John Lehane on saxophone, Eamonn O’Sullivan on drums and Jimmy Flynn on guitar.

Rory at 15 years old, impressed the band with his audition but lied about his age to secure the position. Eighteen was then the minimum age allowed into dance halls in Ireland. Shortly after joining the Fontana Showband, Rory Gallagher purchased his Fender Stratocaster for £100 from Crowley’s Music Shop.

The band performed in ballrooms and dance halls across Ireland almost every evening, often for 5–6 hours at a time. This allowed Gallagher to earn the money for the payments due on his Stratocaster guitar.

The Palm Court Ballroom is where Rory played a number of times.

This quote in the ‘Throwback Thursday article in the Evening Echo written by Jo Kerrigan in August 2024 cites a personal memory for a Jimmy Barrett who spoke of the Palm Court Ballroom.

“The picture of the Palm Court got me reeling in the years. In the late ’50s, as a young lad in a rural village, I was always mightily impressed by an ad on the Social page of the Cork Examiner which conjured up all sorts of exotic visions in my mind. It was a picture of palm trees gently swaying in the breeze under the caption ‘Palm Court, Cork’s Most Up to Date and Luxurious Ballroom. Little did I realise the major part that location would play in my later life!

In July 1962, when I came to live in the city, of course one of the must-see places was the Palm Court. To say I was underwhelmed would be an understatement. It was less than half the size of my local dance hall, and had no seating. The bandstand could barely fit the three musicians, (The Jack Brierley Band) and a small mineral bar. Men standing in a line on one side and ladies on the other. The most unusual thing was a spinning mirrored ball suspended in the middle of the ceiling which sent spots of light all over the place.

At the end of the night, a low-sized middle-aged man would come on stage and wish everybody goodnight in many different languages (Buenos Noches etc).. I think he was the proprietor. Mr J W Reidy? By 1963, I had become a regular there, and in October of that year I asked a lovely young girl to dance. She accepted and later asked me out for a Ladies’ Choice. This young lady became my wife for 53 years!”

Returning to Rory Gallagher of the time, despite not playing the music he truly wanted, Rory saw the Fontana Showband and the type of music he would have played at the Palm court ballroom particularly in 1964, as a valuable training ground.

Recognising the shifting musical landscape of the time, he gradually began to influence the band’s repertoire, steering it away from mainstream pop music and incorporating some Chuck Berry songs.

Rory then went about moulding the showband into a beat group called the Impact that started to introduce more contemporary rock and beat music to venues like they did on January 14 1966 at the Palm Court Ballroom on the current site of the The Oliver Plunkett Bar