Ballroom dance raises €3,500 for Uganda
MORE than 350 people reeled in the years at Adamstown Ballroom for a fundraiser for Sr Helen Delaney who has been described as Ireland’s Mother Teresa for the work she has done for tens of thousands of people in Uganda.
Organised by Helen Furlong, Mick Delaney, John Furlong and former ballroom impresario Danny Doyle, the event was a huge success.
Danny sourced hundreds of posters and photographs, mainly taken by the late People Newspapers photographer Pat Hayes for the event and they were hung on the walls of the old dancehall.
Danny said: ‘It was a fantastic night. We had over 200 photographs and 100 posters. People were coming in all night to look at posters of stars like Tommy Drennan who had a number one in 1965 with Boolavogue and the Tyrone singer The Clipper Carton who was huge in 1955. They were debating when such and such a record was released and going over old shows at the hall.’
Describing Sr Helen, of Doonooney, Adamstown, as Ireland’s Mother Teresa, Danny said she has organised the digging of countless wells and has been at the helm of numerous projects to help the poor people of her adopted homeland over the years. ‘We had photos of her giving people bags of corn and with the money she got from the people of Adamstown.’
People who attended dances and concerts at Adamstown Hall in the 1960s and 1970s travelled from across the county to the event and everyone enjoyed music by Kildare country star Philip English.
Danny, who ran Adamstown Hall for almost 40 years, said: ‘It was like the old days. Everyone danced the night away. They were all people who would have attended the dances; no young people as they don’t go to dances anymore like the older generation did.’
He said Sr Helen was delighted with the €3,500 sum raised. ‘We hope to make it an annual event to keep the wells going out in Uganda.’