The Volta Electric Theatre in Dublin (later renamed the Lyceum Picture Theatre) was Ireland's first dedicated cinema. Later demolished, the spot, at 45 Mary Street, is occupied at present by Penney's. In the early 1900s, demand for moving pictures was fierce, and as a result many cinemas were springing up all over the world.

PropertyValue
dbpprop:abstract
  • The Volta Electric Theatre in Dublin (later renamed the Lyceum Picture Theatre) was Ireland's first dedicated cinema. Later demolished, the spot, at 45 Mary Street, is occupied at present by Penney's. In the early 1900s, demand for moving pictures was fierce, and as a result many cinemas were springing up all over the world. After visiting Trieste, James Joyce was determined to bring a cinema to Ireland, so after receiving the backing of his Italian friends, he set up the Cinematograph Volta on Mary Street. The cinema opened its doors on 20 December 1909. The opening night featured an an eclectic program, with the comedy Devilled Crab, the mystery Bewitched Castle, La Pourponierre, The First Paris Orphanage, and The Tragedy of Beatrice Cency. Joyce however soon became disillusioned with the venture, as the cinema mainly showed films from Europe and Italy, which were largely shunned by Dubliners at the time. After seven months Joyce withdrew his involvement and the cinema was sold to the British Provincial Cinema Company. The cinema managed to stay open until 1919. In 1921, the cinema was reopened as the Lyceum Picture Theatre. The cinema had been altered, raising the number of seats from 420 to 600. In the 1940s, Capitol and Allied Theatres Ltd acquired the cinema, however it only stayed open until 1948 when it closed its doors for the last time. Ironically, despite lasting almost 40 years, the cinema was rarely successful. Penney's bought the building along with adjacent shops and built on its site a department store. For many years the site of Ireland's first cinema was unknown to many as there were no plaques or notices commemorating it. However on 12 June 2007 this was rectified when a plaque was unveiled on the original site marking the significance of 45 Mary Street.
dbpprop:cap
  • Lyceum Picture Theatre, Dublin
dbpprop:color
  • grey
dbpprop:hdr
dbpprop:lbl
  • Address:
  • Closed:
  • Current status:
  • Former Names:
  • Number of screens:
  • Opened:
  • Seats:
dbpprop:name
  • Lyceum Picture Theatre
dbpprop:reference
dbpprop:row
  • 20 December 1909
  • 45 Mary Street, Dublin 1
  • Demolished
  • One
  • Volta Electric Theatre (1909-1921)
  • c.1948
  • 600 (xsd:integer)
dbpprop:style
  • class="infobox" style="width:18em; font-size:90%;"
dbpprop:sub
  • '''Former Dublin Cinema'''
dbpprop:width
  • 220px
dbpprop:wikiPageUsesTemplate
rdfs:comment
  • The Volta Electric Theatre in Dublin (later renamed the Lyceum Picture Theatre) was Ireland's first dedicated cinema. Later demolished, the spot, at 45 Mary Street, is occupied at present by Penney's. In the early 1900s, demand for moving pictures was fierce, and as a result many cinemas were springing up all over the world.
rdfs:label
  • Volta Cinematograph
skos:subject
foaf:page
is dbpprop:redirect of