A NEW book has been published documenting the “unvarnished tale” of a former Limerick theatre that brought music, joy, and drama to the masses.
Limerick Athenaeum – If Walls Could Talk, by the iconic landmark’s former owner Seamus Flynn, takes a look at the beloved theatre’s history and contribution to the arts scene in Limerick City.
The Athenaeum Hall was first built by public subscriptions donated by the people of Limerick in July 1856. The hall was the second oldest theatre in Ireland and one of the oldest music halls to survive anywhere in the world.
Speaking to the Limerick Post, author Seamus Flynn says his book is “a catalogue of things that happened there. But the archive (behind the cinema) is much larger.”
Seamus took over the building in 1989 after it laid idle for four years during a time when video rental shops began to accelerate the decline in cinema audiences.
Property developers at the time proposed it be transformed into a shopping mall, but under Seamus’ watch it became a place where much of Limerick’s musical and cultural history was written.
During this time, concert goers enjoyed live musical performances from stars such as Mary Black (1989), but the success was short-lived when disaster struck in 1990 when a fire broke out at the theatre due to an electrical fault.
The reconstructed Theatre Royal re-opened in 1991, but it soon faced with another challenge, as previous plans to run the theatre as a “dry house” had to be reconsidered.
Thanks to a forgotten piece of legislation dated back to 1835, Seamus says, the theatre was granted a licence to sell liquor under the Excise Act. Seamus says it was that legal initiative that paved the way for other venues across Ireland to follow suit.
Now, with the tipple of their choice in tow, patrons watched on as iconic Limerick band The Cranberries performed their first live performance at the Atheanaeum before exploding on to the international stage.
They howled the night away as local comedians Tom and Pascal revived their popular Christmas Crackers Show, and saw local pop group Tuesday Blue become the first ever musicians from Limerick to appear on MTV.
Channel 4 filmed a sequence of their BAFTA award-winning comedy Father Ted in 1995 – none other than the beloved Eurovision episode. The theatre was also home to auditions for extras who played in the RTÉ film production Thou Shalt Not Kill.
The theatre shut its doors for the last time in 1998 and, since then, much public discussion surrounding the importance of the theatre and what it achieved, as well as calls to open its doors again, have been made.
Last November, the cinema was temporarily re-opened for the filming of One Night Only a new feature film starring Colin Morgan and directed by David Gleeson.
As regard his own hopes for a long-awaited return of the theatre, Seamus says “it would be great”.
“It’s a huge place. You put Tommy Tiernan on the stage of the Royal and he’s going to bring 700 people into the city centre, and there’s loads of acts like that that just don’t come to town anymore.”
Mayor of Limerick John Moran previously stated one of his aspirations of his mayoral programme is to find a way for the building to serve the people of Limerick again.
“I think it could play a major part in reviving the city centre”, Seamus added, saying he would be “very supportive” of any plans by the Mayor to “make that happen”.
Limerick Athenaeum – If Walls Could Talk is out now and can be purchased at the Limerick Civic Trust on Church St and the People’s Museum.
All proceeds from the sale of the book will be divided between Historic Houses of Ireland and Limerick Civic Trust.
