Donegal County Museum seeks your help with a forthcoming exhibition on ‘Showbands and Bands of the Northwest’.

This exhibition focuses on the showband era, which helped transform Irish social life from the late 1950s until the early 1970s. In this period there were 500 showbands playing all over Ireland

“We are calling on local people with memories of those halcyon nights of dancing to bands such as the Sliabh Foy Dance Band, Bridie Gallagher and Horslips to assist us with this exhibition by lending us items such as tickets, posters, newspaper cuttings, record sleeves, photographs, autographs, clothes and other memorabilia,” said curator Caroline Carr.

The exhibition panels on loan from Derry City and Strabane District Council and compiled by Johnny Murray,  give us a flavour of many of the famous showbands from the North West that gained fame during the 1950s, 60s & 70s – including The Clipper Carlton from Strabane, The Melody Aces from Sion Mills, the Capitol and many more.

“This exhibition is going to bring a lot of memories back to those who went to those dances all over the county from the Lilac in Carndonagh, the Fiesta in Letterkenny to Borderlands in Muff and everywhere in between!”   

This exhibition is part of the Earagail Arts Festival and runs from early July to early September.

If you can assist with this exhibition, please contact Caroline in Donegal County Museum, High Road, Letterkenny, Co Donegal. T 074 9124613 E museum@donegalcoco.ie