Charlie and Nellie’s lifelong love began at Devlin Hall

More than 60 years after they first met at Devlin Hall, Charlie and Nellie McHugh have returned to the place where it all began.

Charlie was the first to notice young Nellie Price across the crowded hall – he was from Ballybofey, she from Ballymacool, just around the corner.

“I was 18 and there were two dance halls that my friends and I used to go to – Butt’s and Devlin’s.”

It was one evening on Lower Street that he fell in love with the lady who would become his wife.

His good friend Charlie Bonner from Ballybofey told Nellie she had a suitor and they hit it off.

So was it love at first sight? “Pretty much,” Charlie said with a smile.

“We dated for two and a half years and then got married in 1965,” Nellie recounted.

married at St Eunan’s Cathedral and 59 years later at a ball in the Old Devlin Hall in the company of other patrons at the Letterkenny reunion.

“Yeah, I had to come all the way from Ballybofey to Devlin to get a wife,” Charlie said with a laugh.

Luckily, Nellie was not in the car Charlie and his friends hired that night to go to Devlin Hall. On the way back to Ballybofey, the car broke down at Bullock Park.

“We had to get out of the car and push it home. We didn’t get home until about six in the morning!”

Meanwhile, he didn’t have to push himself too hard to strike up a conversation with the young Letterkenny lady on that first night at Devlin Hall!

The couple went on to have four children and eleven grandchildren.

Charlie took part in another famous event, the Singing Pub Competition at the Letterkenny International Folk Festival, which used to attract thousands of people to Letterkenny.

“It was a wonderful event, just like so many people have come back from overseas over the years to get together, have fun and tell stories.”

Nellie added: “It’s sad that this is the last gathering but sadly a lot of people who have come to attend have passed away since the gathering started.”

Nelly’s own family are from Scotland and will be returning to Letterkenny for the event.

“It’s always nice to meet people from town.”

After 59 years of marriage, any complaints? “No,” Charlie said. “Well, not many complaints anyway,” he said with a smile.

And just like that, the ballroom couple returns to where they started dancing all those years ago…

Charlie and Nellie’s lifelong love began at Devlin Hall Last Modified: August 8, 2024 go through Staff Writer