Plans to build hall in honour of Jimmy Gralton 

There are plans by a local community to build a hall in honour of Jimmy Gralton at his homeplace in Effrinagh not far from Drumsna village.

Jimmy Gralton was deported from Leitrim without trial in 1933. His crime - to have set up a public hall in the county. This was a venue for education and community events. It hosted both traditional and jazz that Gralton had brought back from America.

Gralton, a socialist, aroused fears and intolerance. His life inspired a recent film by Ken Loach named “Jimmy’s Hall”.

Now a fundraising committee has been set up and, after a century in the dreaming of many Leitrim people, a campaign to rebuild Jimmy Gralton’s hall on the very site where the old tin hall once stood is underway. 

“Jimmy Gralton was a farmer, an emigrant, a returned man, and a dreamer with his feet firmly planted in Leitrim soil. He believed in education, fairness, and the dignity of ordinary people. And those beliefs made him dangerous.

“In 1921, with the help of his neighbours, Jimmy built a hall on his land in Effrinagh, Drumsna near Carrick-on-Shannon, modest in size, vast in meaning. It was a place to dance, to learn, to speak freely - a hall for people, not profit or power.” 

A spokesperson for the group continued: “Inside, music and dancers rattled the floorboards and ideas took root. But the hall was watched and condemned from church pulpits. Dancers were named and shamed. The local priests said 'the devil was in that dance hall.' The hall was attacked on several occasions, shots fired during dances and on Christmas Eve 1932 it was burned to the ground.” 

Branded “an undesirable alien,” Jimmy Gralton, born in Ireland, was forcibly removed from the country. He was the only Irish citizen ever deported from Ireland. He never returned and died in New York in 1945.

“But Gralton’s dream and all he stood for lives on in the community of Effrinagh. We will rebuild his hall,” said the committee.

The organising group also added: “It will be for everyone: local people, young and old, artists, learners, families, visitors, and neighbours near and far. It will be a place where tradition and new ideas sit side by side, where people can move, make, question, celebrate, and belong. Above all, it will be an open door, built on freedom, inclusion, and shared ownership, carrying the spirit of Jimmy Gralton’s vision into the present and the future. We really need your help to Raise the Roof for Gralton.

“Whatever donation you can give us will be hugely appreciated. We can’t wait to welcome you in the doors of Gralton’s Hall for a dance someday,” said the committee.

With a target of €26,000 the group hopes to turn the first sod on the site of Gralton’s Hall on June 23rd next at an Effrinagh crossroads dance.

The organising group has set up a gofundme campaign. For further information visit www.GraltonsHall.com