From the Candy Store to the Galtymore is a collection of stories from the golden age of the Irish Showband Era that stretched from the 1950s to the 1970s.

Those decades saw the emergence of a multitude of celebrity bands fronted by household names. During that time, young people embraced the freedom and vibrancy of this new culture by flocking to hundreds of venues up and down the country every week. 

This wonderful collection of stories, collated by PJ Cunningham and Dr. Joe Kearney, illustrate the rich tapestry of the era, and give the reader a true insight into the showband era in Ireland in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. This book contains numerous stories with a Mayo connection.

Pat Healy is a native of Glenamoy, Ballina, and talks about how his father originally turned a cow shed into a dance hall which is now part of the famed Angler's Rest watering hole. His story explains many tricks of the trade as dance hall owners, including how to make punters believe that a dance hall was hopping when in fact it might be pretty empty.

Westport resident Maura Flynn recalls how a family crisis saved her from a scolding after a late night lift home from a dance failed to materialize.

Joe Keane, meanwhile, remembers a time of crozier power and de Valera and Catholic censorship in the country. He writes with an underlying humour on dances and diabolical intervention in Tooreen - a story, he says, to frighten but also to keep punters aware of Tooreen Hall. It worked for him - he met his wife there.

Carracastle native Mildred Beirne is now a renowned music teacher in Roscommon who was a founder member of the Granada Girls in the 60s. She tells several stories of her exploits with the group, including how she brought the house down as the Granada Girls’ drummer one evening in Manchester.

Mark McGaugh is a Mayo native who has lived in England since 1960 and writes of a fight for the hand of a fair maid between two people across his native county and ending up with one winner in London.