The Rainbow in Glenfarne was built by the late John McGivern in early 1934. John was a native of Brockagh, Glenfarne, Co Leitrim and in his late teens he, like so many other people from the area, emigrated to the USA. While there he was involved in the radio and entertainment business. However, it was always his ambition to set up his own entertainment business and he returned to his native Glenfarne in the early thirties. He then purchased a plot of land at a cross roads in the town land of Brockagh Lower along the N16 Enniskillen to Sligo road, where he built the hall, locally known as the Nissan Hut.
The hall opened its doors for the first time in 1934. Known then as McGivern's Dance Hall, the very first function held there consisted of a variety concert followed by the first dance in the new hall with music provided by the local Glenfarne Dance Band. Dances were usually held on Sunday nights with an odd week night dance and with various organisations such as the Garda, Nurses, teachers etc holding their annual dances there.
Over the next two decades or so the hall went from strength to strength and in 1952 John decided to extend it. A few years later rural electricity and piped water supply became available to replace the tilly lamps and chemical toilets that were originally used. This served to make the newly extended hall much more modern and the Rainbow continued to attract large numbers of dancers from all over the country. When John re-opened the hall after the 1952 renovations he re-named it 'The Rainbow Ballroom of Romance' – the name it holds to the present day.
During the great years of the Showband era from the mid 1950's to the early 1980's all the top bands played in The Rainbow. Bands such as Hugh Toorish and the famous Clipper Carlton from Strabane were regular performers on the Rainbow stage. In fact it was 'The Clippers' (as they were popularly known) that introduced the show band scene. Other bands that appeared regularly at the Rainbow included, Brendan Boyer and the Royal, Dickie Rock and the Miami, Joe McCarthy and the Dixies, Sean Fagan, Sonny Knowles and the Pacific, The Royal Blues and Doc Carroll, The Black Aces, Maurice Mulcahy Band, Eileen Reid and the Cadets, Donie Collins Band, Gay McIntyre from Derry, Big Tom and the Mainliners, Susan McCann, Philomena Begly, Joe Dolan, Brian Coll and the Buckaroos and hundreds more. At that time it was recorded that there were over 600 show bands operating in Ireland. One of the most popular bands with the Rainbow dance patrons was the great 'Melody Aces' from Newtownstewart and which featured singers David Coyle and Shay Hutchinson.
During the 7 weeks of lent there were no dances held in the Rainbow or any other hall in the diocese of Kilmore (except on St Patrick's night). This was a ruling by the Clergy of the diocese. During those weeks of no dancing John would organise concerts and other types of entertainment. Local bands also played in the Rainbow such as the 'Breifne Dance Band' from Glenfarne, 'The Emerald Valley Band' from Rossinver, 'The Rhythm Swing' from Glencar, 'Kevin Wood's Band' from Drumshambo, 'Frank Murray's Band' from Carrick-on-Shannon, 'The Starlight Band' from Derrylin, T'he Red Sunbeam' from Swanlinbar, 'Pat O'Hara and his Band' from Strandhill and many others.
As well as local bands many top groups and solo performers from Ireland and abroad played in concert at the rainbow. These included: The Dubliners, Foster and Allen, The Dublin City Ramblers, Wolfe Tones, Anna McGoldrick, Joe Lynch, Ruby Murray, Bridie Gallagher, Daniel O'Donnell, Eileen Donaghy, Altan, Gallowglass Ceili Band and many, many more. Also from abroad came the Harry Gold Orchestra, Ronnie Ronald, Victor Sylvester Big Band, and Scotland's favourite the Jimmy Shand Ceili Band.
During the rest of the year when dancing was permitted John would introduce what he called 'the romantic interlude'. This interlude consisted of approximately 15 to 20 minutes during the dance when John would join the band on the stage dressed in a black suit, white shirt and black bow tie, to sing such romantic songs as 'Have You Ever Been Lonely', the popular Jim Reeves song 'He'll Have To Go' and others. In between verses of these songs John would ask the dancing couples to get to know each other (if they had not done so already) by shaking hands, exchanging greetings etc. He would also give out spot prizes to lucky couples. These prizes were usually tickets for future dances. Also during this romantic interlude the hall lights would be dimmed and the men folk would be encouraged to take their lady friends to the bar for a cup of tea or a mineral (no alcohol in those days) before the dance would end. It is estimated that a lot of happy marriages resulted from meeting at these interludes and this was what inspired John to add 'The Ballroom of Romance' to the name of the hall.
When John and his wife Maureen retired from the business in the mid 1970's the hall was leased to the GWD Promotions Group from Donegal and later to Tony Loughman Promotions, Monaghan. Both of these dance promoters continued to hold dances in the Rainbow until the parish bought it about 26 years ago. After carrying out some improvements it continued to be run very successfully with dances being the main entertainment. However, in the mid-1990's most of the well known show bands had either disbanded or retired and with the advent of the singing and music lounges the numbers of people attending dance halls such as the Rainbow began to fall away. This resulted in very few dances taking place for many years. In more recent times the Glenfarne Community Development Trust has been organising very successful dances and last year the group leased the hall from the owners, St Pheilim's Diocesan Trust. Dances are now held on a regular basis and the Rainbow is once again attracting large crowds. As well as dancing many other types of functions are held such as ceili dances, dancing classes, concerts, acting workshops, music classes, fundraising auctions and sales. It could be said that once again the Rainbow is at the heart of the community in Glenfarne.
The well known English writer, William Trevor, made the Rainbow famous when he wrote his book 'The Ballroom of Romance' in the 1970's. When passing through Glenfarne William Trevor noticed the hall with the writing on the front wall 'Ballroom of Romance'. He was intrigued by this name and upon making some enquiries decided to write this famous book. Some time later a BBC producer, having read 'The Ballroom of Romance' decided to make a film based on it. And so the film of the same name was screened worldwide
