Reel times: Cinema in Sligo 1916
T HE proprietor of the first picture house in Sligo was Tadhg Kilgannon ( 1862 - 1938). He was a journalist, photographer, publisher and a writer of history books on his beloved Sligo; he also took a keen interest in both local and national affairs. Born in Dromore West in 1862, and also known as Thaddeus and Thady. He worked on the staff of the Sligo Champion for a number of years before he became the editor. He set up his very own printing concern which proved a highly successfully business.
He published the ‘ Sligo Almanac’ in 1906, a snapshot in print of Sligo with a month by month account of historical events and he also wrote, ‘ Sligo and its Surroundings’.
In recent years, around 2000 glass negative plates from Kilgannon’s Studio were rescued from oblivion when retrieved by a passer- by from the old Sligo dump. Tadhg would have also taken those last moving pictures of young men going off to war.
In 1899 he set up the regional newspaper, ‘ Sligo Star,’ to rival the Sligo Independent and Sligo Champion. Described by the historian, John McTernan as a ‘ brightly written newspaper’ (‘ Worthies of Sligo, ‘ John C. McTernan, 1994, p. 136), although in the long run, it could not survive against its more established rivals. Tadhg turned to photography and his studio on Thomas Street, now Bridge Street, where he also printed postcards ( see below the postcard of his own cinema) and again it turned out to be highly successful venture. Tadhg was one of the first to introduce cinema to Sligo with his purpose built cinema, the Picture Theatre on Thomas Street. With reportage in his blood, he understood the power of this new medium and how it gripped the public imagination in his local town - he went on to open a second cinema ‘ The Pavilion,’ which stayed opened until a year or so before his tragic death in 1938, from an motoring accident on the Bundoran Road.
The Sligo Champion in May 1916, reported on the upcoming screening of the ‘ Dublin Rebellion Pictures.’
‘ We understand that Mr. Kilgannon has returned from Dublin after securing some very fine pictures of scenes in connection with the rebellion in Dublin, which illustrate the devastated condition of some of the principal thoroughfares in the city, and the ruins of the buildings that were destroyed. The Picture Theatre, Thomas St. will be opened specially on Tuesday and Wednesday nights next, May 16 and 17, as well for a matinees on Wednesday at 4 o’ clock, when the film of the Rebellion will be shown. These pictures are sure to prove of intense interest as they illustrate in a truly realistic manner the wrecked and ruined condition of the Irish capital as it is today. A well- selected series of other subjects of a dramatic and humorous nature will complete the programme. Patrons are requested to note that the war tax on amusements comes into operation on May 15th, so that the prices of admission to
this theatre in future will be
4d, 7d and 1s 2d.’ ( The Sligo Champion, 13th May, 1916). In 1916, the price of ‘ The Sligo Champion’ was one penny.
At the time of the Rising, British Pathé’s silent news- reels were a vital source of news of the events taking place in Dublin during Easter Week. These early newsreels represent some of the finest contemporary reportage of the Easter Rising, War of In- dependence ( 1919- 21) and the Civil War ( 1922- 23) in Ireland. British Pathé was at the forefront of cinematic journalism, blending information with entertainment to popular effect. Over the course of a century, it documented everything from major armed conflicts and seismic political
AT THE TIME OF
THE RISING, BRITISH PATHE’S
SILENT NEWSREELS WERE A VITAL SOURCE OF
NEWS
crises to the curious hobbies and eccentric lives of ordinary people. Now considered to be the finest newsreel archive in the world, British Pathé is a treasure trove, with 85,000 films contained in its archive. British Pathé’s newsreels stretch from 1896 to 1976. British Pathé has made a lot of this footage available to watch on its website - www. britishpathe.com. This film company, sent their cameras to Dublin in the immediate aftermath of the Rising to document the devastation of the City Centre.
This amazing contemporary footage from Dublin 1916 captured images such as British soldiers receiving tea and food from women on the street and documented the heavy damage inflicted by the constant shelling of the General Post Office on O’Connell Street with the near destruction of Liberty Hall near Dublin’s Quayside ( see images across). With the destruction caused by the gunboat - Helga II, as it fired missiles as it sailed up the Liffey. This consistent shelling - destroyed Liberty Hall.
That May, Limerick- born antiquarian, Thomas Johnson Westropp ( 1860- 1922) also set out on foot to document the destruction of the city with his trusty camera, and this record of destruction, is now kept in the Royal Irish Academy as part of the Westropp Collection.
During 1916, films were screened in Gillooley Hall and in Tadhg Kilgannon’s Picture Theatre on Thomas Street. Purpose built cinemas in Ireland were a new phenomenon, as the first cinema in Ireland was opened in Dublin by the writer, James Joyce in 1909 - with the impressive sounding name of the ‘ Volta Electric Theatre.’ In Sligo, the first purpose built cinema was opened on Thomas Street by the former editor of the Sligo Champion, and all- round enterprising Sligo man, Tadhg Kilgannon.
By 1916, these pictures palaces acted as a form of escapism – where for the price of a newspaper, the public could enter into the darkened interiors of these exotic Art Deco palaces, and watch the flicker of the silent film and newsreels accompanied by live music from the small orchestra in the fleapit. During Easter Week, The Sligo Champion reported on the ‘ rebellion’ in Dublin and that May, the reports of the the first executions of the leaders were printed in this regional paper. The tide was turning - and local Sligo people were eager to hear news of the events in Dublin.
On Easter Monday, it was reported in The Sligo Champion that the manager of the Picture Theatre on Thomas Street, ‘ owing to the holding up of railway traffic consequent on the disturbances in Dublin, he has been unable to get delivery of the film ‘ Infelice’ and the screening was to be postponed to a later time. The manager to secure another film title in its stead, ‘ Younita’, also known as ‘ From Gutter to Footlights.’ Few photographs survive of early Irish cinemas.
* Sligo historian, Michael Farry, revealed the date of the postcard of Kilgannon’s ‘ Picture Theatre’ ( see image on pg. 14). The advertisement on the billboard is ‘ Peg O’ My Heart,’ starring Laurette Taylor, which was released in 1922, and screened for three days from Thursday, 5th June to Saturday, 7th June, 1924 at the ‘ Picture Theatre’. Seats for the film were 5 pence, 9 pence and one shilling, three pence, and also on the programme was episode two of the Western serial, ‘ Breaking Through.’ [* Information courtesy of Michael Farry)