Your dancing days...

As part of Leicester's Heritage Open Days yesterday I visited The Secular Hall on Humberstone Gate. It's the kind of building that we walk past everyday, forgetting to look up at and appreciate. It's drenched in a history of radicalism and free thinkers but I must admit my main motivation was to get inside the place where some of you said you drank, dance and for John and Annie Moran, even met your wives and husbands to be. The Hall was actually a key part of the dancing scene in the 1950's and 60's

In you go...

Up the stairs...

 

Nearly there...

and dance!

You may have popped in here to touch up your hair and lipstick...

...or even sat on one of these Gimson benches to rest your feet in between dances.

I don't know if my own parents ever went dancing at The Secular Hall but I got a lump in my throat walking up those steps thinking that they might have done.

Did you or your parents ever dance here?


If you'd like to be involved contact us on 0116 276 9186 or pop in to:

The Emerald Centre, Gipsy Lane, Leicester. LE5 OTB

We're now also on Twitter: follow me on  @irishleicester or join The Irish in Leicester group on Facebook.

Click here to view a map of The Irish in Leicester.

Blog Awards Ireland 2013

I found out this morning that, unfortunately, I have not been shortlisted for the Blog Awards Ireland 2013, Best Blog of the Diaspora. Getting through to the long list was exciting enough and I thank everyone for all their support and best wishes. I'm already thinking about how I can improve how the blog looks but the whole point of this blog is to tell your stories so let's just keep doing what we do!

Thanks

 If you'd like to be involved contact us on 0116 276 9186 or pop in to:

The Emerald Centre, Gipsy Lane, Leicester. LE5 OTB
We're now also on Twitter: follow me on  @irishleicester or join The Irish in Leicester group on Facebook.

Click here to view a map of The Irish in Leicester.

Academic interest...

Regulars will know that things have been a little quiet on the blog lately; sometimes life just gets in the way. But a really interesting development has popped up into that open space....

I have been contacted recently by Dr. Angela Maye-Banbury and Dr. Rionach Casey from Sheffield Hallam University. Angela, from County Tyrone, and Rionach, from Cork, are members of the Dept. of Architecture and Planning at Sheffield Hallam. They are experienced researchers in the field of sociology and particularly on the importance of housing and home in diverse communities. I am thrilled to say they have invited me to be part of their new project, Irish History Housing Research, looking at the housing histories of Irish communities in Leicester and Sheffield. If you or your family are interested in being part of this study just let me know.

If you'd like to be involved contact us on 0116 276 9186 or pop in to:

The Emerald Centre, Gipsy Lane, Leicester. LE5 OTB

We're now also on Twitter: follow me on  @irishleicester or join The Irish in Leicester group on Facebook.

Click here to view a map of The Irish in Leicester.