Up On Ballon Hill


Music and lyrics by Richie Kavanagh

Chorus
If your ever down in Ballon, they talk about it still.
About the dancing board, that was up on Ballon hill.
People came from miles around, they came from near and far.
Most of them on bicycles, they didn’t have a car.

Early Sunday morning, the road race would begin.
Lads ran along the gravel road, there wasn’t much tar then.
They ran around the parish, for six miles or more. 
Arriving in the sports field to a tremendous roar.

Chorus
If your ever down in Ballon, they talk about it still.
About the dancing board, that was up on ballon hill.
People came from miles around, they came from near and far.
Most of them on bicycles, they didnt have a car.

At the bultry in the village, the bike race would begin.
Lads there upon their bicycles, great big strapping men.
A Ballon man upon a bike, was very hard ta pass.
Especially in the sports field, were they raced upon the grass.

Chorus
If your ever down in Ballon, they talk about it still.
About the dancing board, that was up on ballon hill.
People came from miles around, they came from near and far.
Most of them on bicycles, they didnt have a car.

Johnny Keegan was the greatest dancer of them all.
He used ta dance at concerts, inside the parish hall. 
Thank God we have auld film of him dancing in the yard.
People always say, he was a quare nice auld card.

Chorus
If your ever down in Ballon, they talk about it still.
About the dancing board, that was up on ballon hill.
People came from miles around, they came from near and far.
Most of them on bicycles, they didn’t have a car.
Most of them on bicycles, they didn’t have a car.

 

About the Song,…..”Up On Ballon Hill’’

”Up On Ballon Hill’’ is a song I wrote, After a local man showed me an old reel of black and white film on his movie projector, The film was shot using a16 mm,camera by Father Lalor around 1938.

The footage opens with a road race which finished in the sports field, It then moves to a Bicycle Race which starts at the Bull Tree in the village and again finishes in the sports field,
Next we see Johnny Keegan and some local girls step dancing in the old school yard, and the old reel of film ended with footage of people dancing at a outdoor dance up on ballon hill.

”We transferred clips from the 16 mm Film footage, to DVD, for the song.”