Lismore Public Hall is the most important hub of the island and, before the Heritage Centre, the only place, along with the church, where islanders met as a community. Obviously COVID-19 locked it down, but before that it was the home of ceilidhs, country dancing, concerts, parties, sales of work, badminton, keep fit, Burns suppers, exhibitions of all sorts, charity teas, Lismore Voices, evening meals, films, a twice-weekly surgery, weddings, funeral wakes, summer cafes, and more.
Bob Hay first published the Hall’s story in 2014 as an Object of the Month here It was subsequently published as a book The Story of Lismore in Fifty Objects, now available at the Heritage Centre shop.
This is the story as told by Bob Hay and retold and updated by Pauline Dowling here.