Paddy Jennings and Mayo's Travellers Friend Hotel
By Tom Gillespie
THIS photograph of the old Travellers Friend Hotel (TF) in Castlebar was taken in the late 1950s.
It was, and still is, located on the Westport Road and was opened by the late Paddy and Mary Jennings.
Initially a small shop was erected on a site which the couple purchased from local solicitor, the late Michael Joe Egan.
The shop was strategically located opposite the then County Hospital and was frequented by relatives of patients in the hospital who purchased bottles of Lucozade, bunches of grapes and newspapers to take into the hospital while visiting.
Paddy Jennings had worked in London around Heathrow Airport and his local was a pub called the Travellers Friend. On his return he worked in St. Mary’s Psychiatric Hospital, Castlebar, before embarking out in his own.
The venture was an immediate success and the hotel, with a bar and lounge, were soon added. Some years later a balcony for functions was developed and later again the Royal Ballroom, which was a Mecca during the showband era of the 1960s and ‘70s.
Wiser men might not have expanded so quickly but Paddy Jennings had an entrepreneurial spirit and he saw the need for such facilities.
He was the first to introduce live lounge music, which attracted large crowds at weekends and became a nightly event during the summer with the resident band of Nan Monaghan, Dan Doyle, Dick Gillespie and Madame Bourke, from Castle Street, mother of Seanie who played with the Brose Walsh Orchestra.
In those days the summer months saw an influx of emigrants from England with plenty of spare cash. It was not unusual for them to send a round of drinks to the band on the stage.
I was a waiter in the hotel for several years while I was in St. Gerald’s College, and the tips were good.
There was a standard round of ‘drinks’ for the band - a Babycham for Nan, pints for the men and 20 cigarettes to Madame for Seanie.
As waiters we wore white jackets and black dicky bows and the jackets had to be washed each night as they stank of tobacco smoke.
One customer always ordered a rum and black. I used to try and avoid him as I detested the smell of it, and still do.
Paddy Jennings had a consignment of special ash trays commissioners for the TF, and underneath was inscribed ‘This ash tray was stolen from the Travellers Friend Hotel, Castlebar’.
Paddy held court in the ‘back room’ off the lounge where he had a buzzer which would sound inside the bar, indicating he wanted the immediate attention of a waiter. It could be to fetch a round of drinks for his guests or a round of sandwiches from the kitchen.
But Paddy was always up for a joke.
A group of English anglers were regular visitors to Castlebar and always headquartered at the TF.
One year when they checked in they were given the keys to their rooms, only to discover to their utter shock that Paddy had installed a goat in one of the bedrooms.
On another occasion a well-known English wrestler was his guest in the ‘back room’.
When they emerged into the lounge some loud words were ‘exchanged’ between Paddy and the huge wrestler and customers looked on in shock as Paddy caught the wrestler and threw him over his shoulder - a move well practised before they came into the lounge.
The staff in the Royal Ballroom catered for the Christmas party for the hotel staff and visa versa.
On one occasion I was on the ballroom staff when we were serving the hotel staff and Paddy took me aside and enquired how many dinner plates I could carry at once.
We tested it out in the kitchen and I held maybe 10. Later when the hotel staff were being served I was to carry the bundle of plates into the balcony, deliberately passing Paddy, where I was to trip and send the plates flying into the air, much to the shock of those around me.
Such a mistake in real life would have been a sacking offence, but Paddy got the greatest kick out of it as he knew the hotel staff realised I was for the high jump.
When I started in the Royal Ballroom I was put in the cloakroom with Paddy McGuinness, graduating to the snack bar and later operating the lights in the hall from the main stage.
In between dances the lights were full on, but dimmed during the three-song dance sets and most importantly on full power for the National Anthem.
As an almighty fan of the showbands I was in my element and was on first name terms with most of the big names.
On my first night in the ballroom I met Joe Dolan, to be followed later by Brendan Bowyer, Brendan O’Brien, Butch Moore, Larry Cunningham, etcetera.
My final task of the night was to prepare a chicken salad meal for the band members which they ate at the snack bar when all the dancers had departed. I had access to the large fridge in the hotel kitchen and quickly got their meal ready which they washed down with a bowl of soup and cups of tea.
A tip was usually forthcoming, but not from all, though the most generous was Larry Cunningham from whom I got a fiver.
Huge numbers of dancers flocked to the Royal Ballroom every Sunday night to hear the top bands of the day.
St. Stephen’s night and New Year’s Eve were the real crowd pullers with up to 3,000 sardine-like bodies enjoying the entertainment in an alcohol-free zone.