In November 1912, “The original Irish Animated Picture
Company” announced a one-week programme in the Town Hall showing ‘entirely new
and interesting pictures, the hall will be heated and we expect crowded
houses’. The Town Hall was originally built as the Town Courthouse (opposite
the County Courthouse) and when it became superfluous, it changed into a
variety theatre about 1895. The Hardiman family ran it from 1916-1967.
“Galway’s Cosiest Cinema” closed in 1993.
These
early films were silent, so the theatres would have live musical accompaniment.
The New Galway Cinema Theatre was beside the GPO with an entrance from William
St. and they advertised not only the best and latest in pictures, but also the
‘best provincial orchestra of 7 musicians and the latest music’. This theatre
(seating accommodation 1,050) was later known as The Gaiety and later still as
The Empire. In 1937, it was changed back to a skating rink.
The
Savoy (for a while known as The Corrib Cinema) opened on Christmas Eve, 1934
with a concert by John McCormack. The first film shown there was “Flying down
to Rio” and it played in front of a full house of 1,239 people. It was the
biggest cinema in Connacht, had an art deco facade, and a floor that sloped
upwards towards the 21’ by 16’3” screen. The projectors were Simplex with RCA
sound. There were 4 shops on the Eglinton St. frontage one of which, “The
Magnet” had a hatch into the spacious foyer. There was a tea lounge on the
first floor. Prices were two bob for the balcony, 1/4d and 9 pence, and the
programme was continuous from 4pm. They knew how to advertise ... a film called
“Forgotten Men” was promised to be ‘Soul-searing and nerve shocking, but true.
You’re in every scene with the cameraman who died making it. Every scene is
real, not staged. A drama of a world aflame. Even if it makes you shiver, you
must see it’. The Savoy closed in 1976.
The
Estoria (Galway’s Luxury Cinema) opened on November 22nd, 1939. It
had 776 seats, two showings a night at 6.45 and 8.45pm, with matinees on Tuesday,
Thursday, Saturday, Sunday and Holy days. Some of the most popular films shown
there were “Gone with the Wind”, “They Died with their Boots on”,”Phantom of
the Opera”. The first technicolour film was “Trail of the Lonesome Pine”. John
Wayne was easily the most popular actor. After the war, cinemas had to include
a live show to avoid tax, so Peg Folan used to play the Estoria, Johnny Cox the
Savoy and Des Fretwell the Town Hall. The large posters for outside the cinemas
and for various billboards around town were painted by Frank Devlin, and put up
by Ned Joyce, the billposter. Frank Wrafter who managed the Estoria often
brought all the boys from the Industrial School and the girls from St. Anne’s
to matinees. The Estoria closed in 1975 and became the Claddagh Palace which
closed in 1995.
For
many young Galwegians of that era, no Sunday afternoon was complete unless one
got into the ‘fours (fourpenny seats) to watch the serials, also known as the
‘follier uppers’ featuring the likes of
Tom Mix, Pearl White, Roy Rodgers, The Cisco Kid, Don Winston of the Coastguard,
Hopalong Cassidy, The Man in the Iron mask, Captain Marvel, The Perils of
Pauline, Tarzan etc. These weekly episodes invariably ended up with our hero or
heroine barely hanging on to a flimsy
branch sticking out of the side of a steep cliff, or tied to a railway track
with a steam train coming, or about to be trampled by a buffalo stampede. “Tune
in next week and see does our hero get the bad guys”, so we all galloped home
to save our 4d for the following Sunday. The excitement and noise levels when
the Lone Ranger was catching up with the crooks, was almost unbearable. Trying
to get in for nothing was a Galway pastime.
There
was very little other form of entertainment, apart from dancing, at the time.
It was in the cinema that a lot of people did their courting, and there was no
point in asking many of those what the film was about.
Galway
City Museum currently has a wonderful exhibition of posters, memorabilia,
photographs etc. relating to the history of the cinema here. It is full of
nostalgia, and will bring back a lot of memories and is worth a few visits. You
can see Donal Haughey’s documentary on the closing of the Claddagh
Palace,and watch Fred Diviney talk about
his career as a projectionist in a number of Galway cinemas.
Our
first photograph shows Fred Diviney at work in the Estoria.
Our
second shows Ronnie Burke working in the
projection room of the Town Hall. He later worked in the Claddagh palace from
1978-93 and then worked part time in the Omniplex.
Finally,
a 1934 drawing of the proposed Corrib Cinema --- later the Savoy--- about to be
built in Eglinton Street.
