Ireland's First Cinemas

Dublin's First Cinema

A lapse in the Queen’s Royal Theatre’s patent in 1908 allowed the premises on what was then Great Brunswick Street to house Dublin’s and Ireland’s first full-time year-round film venue. The building was hired by the Colonial Picture Combine, which had been touring through Britain and Ireland with its headline act, the Australian proto-feature The Story of the Kelly Gang (Tait, 1906). They spent Christmas week 1907 at the Alhambra in Sandgate, and when they arrived at the Queen’s, they no doubt planned a short stay, such as they had at Belfast’s Ulster Hall from 13-25 April 1908. Finding the venue available and the audiences enthusiastic, however, they stayed in Dublin for nearly a year, from 2 March 1908 to 9 January 1909.

Another Section

Quisque sapien elit, porta ac est non, congue commodo nunc. Phasellus mattis justo dolor, et malesuada ipsum iaculis eu. Maecenas molestie viverra orci, vel pharetra lacus ornare eu. Donec in felis sit amet lorem interdum placerat. Nullam tempus sit amet eros id tincidunt. Morbi blandit felis aliquet sodales aliquet. In ex purus, gravida sit amet enim ut, faucibus tempor augue. Proin rutrum ultricies lacus tempor sodales. Curabitur luctus urna magna, at maximus dolor aliquet eget. Duis quis tincidunt lectus, sed facilisis ex. Pellentesque eleifend dolor eget scelerisque sollicitudin.