Glenfarne, Gleann Fearna, Co. Leitrim

Gleann Fearna · Co. Leitrim

The village that gave William Trevor 'The Ballroom of Romance' - a dance hall, a lakeside forest, and a railway line that died on the border.

Glenfarne is barely a village - a scatter of houses on the N16 between Manorhamilton and the Fermanagh border, in the deep north of Leitrim where the county runs out into upland and lake. Gleann Fearna, the valley of the alders. It would be an easy place to drive through without slowing, and most people do. The reason to stop is a galvanised-iron dance hall and the story a passing English writer made of it.

John McGivern, back from the United States, built McGivern's Dance Hall here in 1934 and renamed it the Rainbow Ballroom of Romance in 1952. In the showband years it pulled crowds from three counties for Big Tom, Philomena Begley and the rest. McGivern's trick was the romantic interlude: he would lower the lights and steer strangers together on the floor. William Trevor, living in Devon, drove through in the early 1970s, saw the sign over the door, and wrote 'The Ballroom of Romance' - a story of a Saturday-night dance and the slow narrowing of a country woman's choices. Pat O'Connor filmed it in 1982 with Brenda Fricker and Cyril Cusack, and it won a BAFTA. The hall is still here, refurbished, running tea dances and a small showband memorabilia exhibition.

Behind the village, Glenfarne Forest drops through Coillte plantation to the shore of Lough MacNean, the lake where Leitrim, Cavan and Fermanagh meet. The woods grew up around Glenfarne Hall, an estate house once owned by Sir Edward Harland of the Belfast shipbuilders Harland and Wolff, who died here in 1895; the Hall is a ruin in the trees now. The old railway station survives too - the line closed in 1957 and the buildings stand as one of the more complete relics of the Sligo-Enniskillen route.

Come for the ballroom and the forest, and not for much else. There is a pub, a place to eat and somewhere to sleep near the forest entrance, but the proper shops and beds are thirteen kilometres west in Manorhamilton. This is honest scarcity country: borderland, upland, quiet. The kind of place that holds one good story and tells it well.

Population

a scattered rural parish, the village itself a handful of houses

Pubs

1and counting

Walk score

Forest gate to the shore of Lough MacNean in twenty minutes

Founded

Referenced in records from 1217; the name means 'valley of the alders'

Coords

54.2842° N, 7.9839° W

01 / 07

At a glance.

Three things every local will eventually mention. Read these and you've already understood more than most day-trippers do.

01 The ballroom

The Rainbow Ballroom of Romance, built 1934, still standing.

John McGivern came home from America and put up a galvanised dance hall - locals called it the Nissen Hut. He dimmed the lights for slow sets and made introductions. William Trevor drove past in the early 1970s, saw the sign, and wrote the short story that became a BAFTA-winning film.

Stories & lore → 02 The forest

Glenfarne Forest runs down to the shore of Lough MacNean.

Coillte woodland on the old Glenfarne Hall demesne, with marked trails through conifer and broadleaf to the lakeside. Lough MacNean is the meeting point of three counties - Leitrim, Cavan and Fermanagh. The ruins of the Hall are in the trees.

Walks & outings → 03 The line

A station on a railway that crossed the border and lost.

The Sligo, Leitrim and Northern Counties Railway ran Enniskillen to Sligo from 1880 to 1957 - the last independent railway in Ireland, kept alive only because it crossed the frontier. Glenfarne still has its station buildings, opened to the public in summer.

Stories & lore →

02 / 07

The pubs.

None of these are themed Irish pubs, because they don't need to be. A few that earn the trip:

The pub at the forest entrance

Small rural local

Village pub, near the Glenfarne Forest road

Glenfarne has a pub beside the entrance road to the forest, along with a place to eat and somewhere to stay. It is a village local, not a destination bar - the nearest run of pubs is in Manorhamilton, thirteen kilometres west. For a proper night out you go there. For a quiet pint after the forest, this does the job.

03 / 07

Stories & lore.

The reason to come back. The things every local will eventually tell you about, usually after the second pint.

Built 1934, immortalised by William Trevor

The Rainbow Ballroom of Romance

John McGivern, a returned emigrant, built a galvanised-iron dance hall in Glenfarne in 1934. Locals called it the Nissen Hut for its corrugated army-surplus look. In 1952 he renamed it the Rainbow Ballroom of Romance, and through the showband era it drew crowds from Leitrim, Cavan and Fermanagh to dance to Big Tom and the Mainliners, Philomena Begley, Brian Coll and the touring acts of the day. McGivern's signature was the romantic interlude - he would dim the lights mid-evening and introduce people who had never met. The English writer William Trevor, then living in Devon, was driving through in the early 1970s when he saw the sign over the door. The short story he wrote, 'The Ballroom of Romance', became one of his best known. Pat O'Connor's 1982 television film of it, with Brenda Fricker and Cyril Cusack, won a BAFTA for Best Single Drama. The ballroom still stands, refurbished, hosting tea dances and concerts and home to a small showband memorabilia exhibition.

An estate house, a Belfast magnate, a ruin in the trees

Glenfarne Hall and the shipbuilder

Glenfarne Forest grew up around the demesne of Glenfarne Hall, an estate house that passed through the Tottenham family and was later owned by Sir Edward Harland - co-founder of the Belfast shipyard Harland and Wolff, the yard that would build the Titanic. Harland died at Glenfarne in 1895. The Hall is a ruin now, standing among the conifers of the forest park, its grounds long since absorbed into the Coillte plantation that runs down to Lough MacNean. The woods also hold the Myles Big Stone, thought to mark an ancient site, and the Fort of Sile O'Reilly, a reputed old burial ground.

Sligo, Leitrim and Northern Counties Railway, 1880-1957

The railway that the border kept alive

Glenfarne stood on the Sligo, Leitrim and Northern Counties Railway, which ran from Enniskillen in Fermanagh through Belcoo, Glenfarne, Manorhamilton and Dromahair to Sligo. The line reached Glenfarne on 1 January 1880. It has a curious distinction: it was the last independent railway company in Ireland, never absorbed into the Great Northern Railway, precisely because it crossed the frontier between the two jurisdictions and neither state wanted to take it on. It closed on 1 October 1957 when the Enniskillen end was shut on the orders of the Northern Ireland government. Glenfarne keeps all its original 1880 station buildings, which makes it one of the more complete survivals on the route; the station has been opened to the public during the summer months.

04 / 07

Things to do outside.

Wear waterproofs. Bring a sandwich. Tell someone where you're going if it's the mountain.

Glenfarne Forest woods walk Coillte forest on the old Glenfarne Hall demesne, with marked trails through conifer and broadleaf down to the shore of Lough MacNean. The lake is the meeting point of three counties. Look out for the ruins of Glenfarne Hall in the trees. Forest gate to the lakeshore is about twenty minutes on foot. Boots after wet weather - the lower paths get soft.

trails varydistance

30 minutes to 2 hourstime

05 / 07

When to go.

There is no bad time. There are different times.

Spring

Mar-May

The alders come into leaf, the forest greens up, and the lough light is at its best. A quiet time to walk before any summer visitors arrive.

◉ Go

Summer

Jun-Aug

The best window for the ballroom and the station - check the Rainbow Ballroom programme and the summer opening of the old railway station before you travel.

◉ Go

Autumn

Sep-Oct

Colour in the broadleaf, mist on Lough MacNean, the borderland at its most atmospheric. Few people about.

◉ Go

Winter

Nov-Feb

Short days and weather coming off the uplands and the lake. The forest is open but the lower trails are wet. Check what is on at the ballroom rather than turning up cold.

◐ Mind yourself

06 / 07

What to skip.

Honestly? Don't bother.

If a local was sitting beside you, this is the bit where they'd lean in.

Arriving to find the ballroom open

The Rainbow Ballroom runs scheduled tea dances, concerts and a bookable showband experience - it is not a casual drop-in attraction. Check the programme and book ahead. The same goes for the old railway station, which opens to the public only in the summer months.

Expecting a serviced village

Glenfarne is tiny - a pub, somewhere to eat and a bed near the forest, and not much more. For shops, cafes and a choice of accommodation, Manorhamilton is thirteen kilometres west on the N16. Plan supplies accordingly.

Getting there.

By car

On the N16 between Manorhamilton and the Fermanagh border. Manorhamilton is 13 km west; Sligo is about an hour west on the N16. Blacklion and the border crossing into Fermanagh are a short drive east. Enniskillen is roughly 30 minutes across the border.

By bus

Bus Eireann routes 458 and 470 serve the area, linking Glenfarne with Manorhamilton, Sligo and the surrounding villages. Frequency is rural and low - check timetables before relying on it.

By train

No railway. The line through Glenfarne closed in 1957 and the old station survives only as a relic. The nearest mainline station is Sligo (about an hour west by car).

Next on the tour

Co. Leitrim

Manorhamilton

Thirteen kilometres west on the N16. The market town of north Leitrim, in a valley of glens, with a ruined plantation castle and Glencar Waterfall close by. The place to base yourself.

Co. Leitrim

Kiltyclogher

North into the remote borderlands. A sparse upland village, birthplace of Sean Mac Diarmada, one of the seven signatories of the 1916 Proclamation.

Co. Cavan

Blacklion

East along the N16 to the Cavan border. Neven Maguire's MacNean House and the Cuilcagh boardwalk - one restaurant and one mountain, both serious.

Co. Leitrim

Ballinaglera

Fourteen kilometres north, up the eastern shore of Lough Allen. A hillside parish of clergy by name and walkers by habit.