The Lighthouse is owned by Element Pictures – https://elementpictures.ie/, who also run and operate the recently opened Pálás Cinema in Galway and the Road House Cinema.
On 14th July 2018, the Meath Chronicle announced that Navan’s only cinema, the Diamond Digital, would close after twenty years in operation.
The Arc Cinema, a 35,000 sq ft state-of-the-art development, costing €7 million and situated at the expanded site of the Diamond Digital, which had undergone a complete renovation, opened on 14th December 2018.
According to Scannain.com (28 November 2018), it is the north east’s only all-VIP seating cinema with each of the six auditoriums boasting extra-large luxurious rocking leather seats for maximum comfort with
stadium-style tiers for a perfect view from every seat.
It is the third location for the Arc Cinema chain, which joins those in Drogheda and Wexford town.
The Eclipse website says that Cineplex Bundoran was rebranded Eclipse Cinemas Bundoran in 2009 and has had a major regeneration since then.
A Donegal student came up with the name Eclipse Cinemas following a name the cinema competition because “When you go into a studio it is bright, then the lights go down and the film starts. At the end the lights go up again, just like during an Eclipse”.
It was the ambition of the founders to bring City Style cinemas to smaller towns, with the extra attractions of a warm welcome and high quality customer service that you would associate with a family-run business.
This cinema opened as a seven-screen Omniplex in 1993. By 2013 three more screens had been added. As a result of the division of the Ward Anderson group in 2013 it became an IMC. It now has 11 screens.
The 7-screen Strand Multiplex opened on 26th November 1993, three days before the opening of the new Quayside Centre. Following a reburbishment, it was rebranded as Omnniplex from 2 November 2007. A further refurbishment was completed in 2014 and involved the conversion of one of the existing screens to Omniplex’s giant format MAXX screens.
The Willowfield Picture House opened on 13th December 1915. It was owned by the Willowfield Unionist Club (a constitutent part of the Ulster Unionist Party). By 1969 the cinema (as distinct from the building) had changed hands; it was now being run by Rex Cinema (Belfast) Ltd, who changed its name to the Rex. It continued to use the Rex name during the brief period when it showed Asian films. (Rex Cinemas (Belfast) Ltd also owned the Park Cinema, Belfast in its final years; Rex Cinemas was a sister company of Carter Cinemas Ltd.)
The Park was the first cinema opened in Belfast by Supreme Cinemas, one of the largest of the locally owned chains. Supreme’s other cinemas, at that time, were all located in provincial towns.In its last years the Park was owned by Park Cinema (Belfast) Ltd., which appears to have been a sister company of Rex Cinema (Belfast) Ltd. (see KYB 1970)
Having conducted an extensive trawl of the advertising columns of the Belfast Telegraph, from the opening to the closure of this cinema, I can find absolutely no evidence that the Metro ever changed its name to the Rex. It opened as the Metro, it continued as the Metro and when it closed on 29th March 1961, it was still the Metro. By 10th February 1962 it had become the New Metro Ballroom, a short-lived venture.(KYB 1958 shows the owners as Sandro Theatres, which was a Supreme Cinemas company.)
The records show that Belfast’s first full time cinema was the Alhambra Theatre of Varieties in North Street (June 1908). However, St. George’s Hall can stake a claim to it being the city’s first full time cinema without a theatrical background. While films predominated, live acts continued to have a place on the St. George’s bill. As to the date of its closure as a cinema, it’s arguable that this was as early as 1914, according to Belfast cinema author Tom Hughes.
The hall itself, which is on an upper floor of St.George’s Buildings (erected 1881) has remained unused for a number of years.
In contrast to Fred Steward’s first cinema, the Silver (orginally the Electric), which was a conversion of an existing building, the New York (the Silver’s replacement, further up the same busy street but on the other side), was custom built. Cinema author Tom Hughes, writing in ‘How Belfast Saw The Light’ (2014) said, ‘The architect was Thomas Houston of Wellington Place and he produced an unfussy, compact looking building with a basic classical facade. The auditorium was spacious with a high ceiling; seating was for 750 patrons’.
The Electric Cinema, which opened on 22 August 1910, was the second of five cinemas to open in the city that year (it was the first year of a cinema building boom in Belfast, which continued right through to 1920). All the evidence suggests the Electric was rather primitive (and not custom or purpose built as has been suggested), indeed Fred Stewart the owner closed it after a few months (possibly in October). Its replacement was much improved but didn’t open until April 1911. From then on its name kept changing, with variations including – BB (Bright & Beautiful) Picture Palace, PP (Perfect & Pleasant) Pictures and People’s Popular Picture Palace. Just when it seemed it had settled on The Palace (or the York Street Picture Palace), there was yet another change. Around 14 December 1912 it became the Silver Cinema and this time it stuck with the name, until its closure in 1915.
The Electric was the first cinema to open in the city centre in 1910. The site is now part of the Belfast campus of Ulster University.
The Picture House was opened on 19 June 1911 by Provincial Cinematograph Theatres Ltd (PCT). Due, possibly, to the civil unrest in the city in the early 1920s, PCT pulled out (in 1922) and the cinema was taken over by the building’s landlords, who formed a company called Northern Theatres to run it. In 1965 Rank undertook a complete modernisation of the cinema which included the installation of the most up-to-date projection equipment (to bring it up to ‘London West End standards’). Rank also changed its name to the Avenue (its nickname but never its official name) from 7 June 1965. In 1974 Rank pulled out of Northern Ireland and a local operator (Belfast Cinemas Ltd) took over; it retained the Avenue name until the cinemas eventual closure.
The Kelvin, having been taken over by British film producer Raymond Stross and undergone a complete refurbishment and upgrade of its facilities, became the New Kelvin on 28 September 1942. The war having ended, even more radical changes followed, including a new frontage and canopy; from 18 March 1946 it became the Mayfair (still Raymond Stross Theatres, Shaftesbury Avenue, London but later Mayfair Theatres Ireland). The Mayfair closed down in April 1958 but later that year (by 20 December), the News &
Cartoon cinema (operated by Capitol & Provincial News Theatres) replaced it. In 1966 the Capitol & Provincial chain was taken over by Classic Cinemas, headquartered in London’s Baker Street, and so the cinema became the Classic (a name it retained until its closure) on 7 November 1966.
Just to clarify my last comment re the takeover in April 1951. The man behind this acquisition was George Lodge, who by this time already controlled the Imperial cinema in Corn Market and Warden Ltd., the owners of the Royal cinema in Arthur Street and the Grand Opera House (next door to the Hippodrome). Lodge was, undoubtedly, the most significant figure on the Belfast cinema and theatre scene from the late forties until the early sixties.
ABC’s lease expired in July 1938 and a new operator, David Forrester Theatres Ltd (who had built up a chain of theatres and cinemas in England), took over. Forrester changed the bill to a mix of live performances and films. By 1940, though, the Hippodrome had come under local control again with G. L. Birch taking charge. Films became,again, the predominant entertainment but live performances were not overlooked. In April 1951 it was acquired by Warden Ltd, the owners of the Grand Opera House next door. In 1960 the Hippodrome was sold to Rank (as was the Opera House) and became an Odeon on 16 October 1961. It was announced on 11 November 1974 that Rank had sold all its Northern Ireland cinemas (14 including a number which had closed) to a group of local businessmen, who had formed a new company, Belfast Cinemas Ltd., to run them. The cinema changed its name to the New Vic on 21 April 1975.
This cinema was planned by Irish Theatres (one of the two largest locally owned chains at the time). In 1955, while the cinema was still under construction,Irish Theatres was acquired by Rank (Odeon), who opened it on 17 June that year.
After undergoing an extensive reconstruction, modernisation, creation of a separate circle and other improvements, the Tivoli reopened as the Gaumont on 26 December 1966 (not 1961). After Rank sold its Northern Irish estate to Belfast Cinemas (a local independent created for the purpose) in 1974, the Gaumont reverted to its original name (Gaumont being a trade mark of Rank), on 24 March 1975. The building has since been demolished and replaced by appartments.
Owned by Queen’s University Belfast, Queen’s Film Theatre AKA QFT opened on 14 October 1968. A second screen, also using a converted lecture theatre, opened on 10 October 1988 (150 seats). A new entrance was created at 20 University Square in December 2002 and the former entrance at University Square Mews was closed. The newly created complex incorporated two separate buildings (20 University Square and the existing cinema building) and also involved some new build and reconstruction. It was opened on 22 October 2004. Among the many changes was the creation of a new Screen 2 (91 seats), situated alongside the existing Screen 1.
Warner Village Cinemas opened at the Odyssey Pavilion, with a special preview event, on the evening of 17 June 2001. Subsequently, Vue took over (its website myvue.com replaced warnervillage.co.uk around 3 September 2004) but it doesn’t seem to have rebranded the cinema as Vue – the adverts in the press continued to use the Warner Village Cinemas name and logos. By 21 April 2006, however, a new name was in place, Village Cinemas, though still using the myvue.com address. This scenario continued until 2 June 2006 when the first press advert for Storm Cinemas appeared. The cinema had reverted to Village (Village-Theatres 3 Ltd) management by the summer of 2010 and was rebranded as Odyssey Cinemas; the first press advert appeared on 4 June 2010.
The 10-screen MGM opened to the public on 15 July 1993, a preview event having been held the previous night. It was a replacement for the Cannon Film Centre (a 4-screen) in Fisherwick Place, approximately five minutes walking distance from the new cinema. Cannon had been acquired by Pathe Communications, who subsequently bought MGM. Seating capacity in the screens was listed as 436, 354, 272, 264, 262, 252, 187, 187, 169, 118. The cinema subsequently changed hands and its name on three separate occasions. On 4 July 1996 it became Virgin Cinemas. By February 2000 it had become part of UGC Cinemas; the first advertisement to carry the UGC name appeared in the press on 17 March 2000. In December 2003 it passed into local ownership for the first time, having been taken over by Movie House Cinemas; the first advertisement under the new regime appeared in the press on 23 December 2003.
The last day under ABC ownership was 12 November 1977. The Strand then closed for a week and reopened on 19 November; the lease had been acquired by a local independent operator. However, despite what has been described as “brave efforts” by the new owner, it finally closed for films on 19 November 1983. It was reopened by local businessman Ronnie Rutherford in 1984 as the Strand Variety Theatre; the many well-known acts who performed on its stage included The Drifters and Little and Large. It continued as a live performance venue until 1987 when it closed again. Ronnie Rutherford had always entertained the hope that the Strand would return to being a cinema and his dream became a reality when it reopened for films on 29 April 1988. It had been converted into a 4-screen complex; close on £500,000 had been spent on transforming the building. By 2013 the Strand found itself having to compete with a increasing number of new multiplexes so it took the decision to cease trading as a commercial cinema and reinvented itself as the Strand Arts Centre, a not-for-profit charitable venture, to ensure the short-term survival of the building. There are longer term plans (which include the retention of the four existing screens) to completely renovate the Strand.
The Gala Show on 26 September 1990 (it opened to the general public the following day) was the first cinema in what has since become the Movie House Cinemas chain. Originally the building (previously a furniture retail outlet) housed five screens but a sixth was added around 24 May 1991. In 2018, the interior and exterior of the building underwent a significant makeover – improvements have included the introduction of new VIP seating in screens 1 and 2.
Following conversion to a 4-screen, it reopened as the ABC Film Centre on 19 June 1980 (not 1981). When it was taken over by Cannon in 1986, it was rebranded as the Cannon Film Centre. When it closed in July 1993, it was replaced at the same time by the MGM 10-screen on the Dublin Road, barely 5 minutes walking distance from the old cinema.
Movieland officially opened on 19 March 1999. The report in the local paper said it had a seating capacity of almost 1,000. One of the six screens had a small stage for shows and seminars. There was also a restaurant on the first floor.
The Lighthouse is owned by Element Pictures – https://elementpictures.ie/, who also run and operate the recently opened Pálás Cinema in Galway and the Road House Cinema.
On 14th July 2018, the Meath Chronicle announced that Navan’s only cinema, the Diamond Digital, would close after twenty years in operation.
The Arc Cinema, a 35,000 sq ft state-of-the-art development, costing €7 million and situated at the expanded site of the Diamond Digital, which had undergone a complete renovation, opened on 14th December 2018.
According to Scannain.com (28 November 2018), it is the north east’s only all-VIP seating cinema with each of the six auditoriums boasting extra-large luxurious rocking leather seats for maximum comfort with stadium-style tiers for a perfect view from every seat.
It is the third location for the Arc Cinema chain, which joins those in Drogheda and Wexford town.
The Eclipse website says that Cineplex Bundoran was rebranded Eclipse Cinemas Bundoran in 2009 and has had a major regeneration since then.
A Donegal student came up with the name Eclipse Cinemas following a name the cinema competition because “When you go into a studio it is bright, then the lights go down and the film starts. At the end the lights go up again, just like during an Eclipse”.
It was the ambition of the founders to bring City Style cinemas to smaller towns, with the extra attractions of a warm welcome and high quality customer service that you would associate with a family-run business.
This cinema opened as a seven-screen Omniplex in 1993. By 2013 three more screens had been added. As a result of the division of the Ward Anderson group in 2013 it became an IMC. It now has 11 screens.
This five-screen cinema opened as an Omniplex in 1995. It became an IMC following the division of the Ward Anderson group in 2013.
The 7-screen Strand Multiplex opened on 26th November 1993, three days before the opening of the new Quayside Centre. Following a reburbishment, it was rebranded as Omnniplex from 2 November 2007. A further refurbishment was completed in 2014 and involved the conversion of one of the existing screens to Omniplex’s giant format MAXX screens.
The Willowfield Picture House opened on 13th December 1915. It was owned by the Willowfield Unionist Club (a constitutent part of the Ulster Unionist Party). By 1969 the cinema (as distinct from the building) had changed hands; it was now being run by Rex Cinema (Belfast) Ltd, who changed its name to the Rex. It continued to use the Rex name during the brief period when it showed Asian films. (Rex Cinemas (Belfast) Ltd also owned the Park Cinema, Belfast in its final years; Rex Cinemas was a sister company of Carter Cinemas Ltd.)
The Park was the first cinema opened in Belfast by Supreme Cinemas, one of the largest of the locally owned chains. Supreme’s other cinemas, at that time, were all located in provincial towns.In its last years the Park was owned by Park Cinema (Belfast) Ltd., which appears to have been a sister company of Rex Cinema (Belfast) Ltd. (see KYB 1970)
Having conducted an extensive trawl of the advertising columns of the Belfast Telegraph, from the opening to the closure of this cinema, I can find absolutely no evidence that the Metro ever changed its name to the Rex. It opened as the Metro, it continued as the Metro and when it closed on 29th March 1961, it was still the Metro. By 10th February 1962 it had become the New Metro Ballroom, a short-lived venture.(KYB 1958 shows the owners as Sandro Theatres, which was a Supreme Cinemas company.)
The records show that Belfast’s first full time cinema was the Alhambra Theatre of Varieties in North Street (June 1908). However, St. George’s Hall can stake a claim to it being the city’s first full time cinema without a theatrical background. While films predominated, live acts continued to have a place on the St. George’s bill. As to the date of its closure as a cinema, it’s arguable that this was as early as 1914, according to Belfast cinema author Tom Hughes.
The hall itself, which is on an upper floor of St.George’s Buildings (erected 1881) has remained unused for a number of years.
In contrast to Fred Steward’s first cinema, the Silver (orginally the Electric), which was a conversion of an existing building, the New York (the Silver’s replacement, further up the same busy street but on the other side), was custom built. Cinema author Tom Hughes, writing in ‘How Belfast Saw The Light’ (2014) said, ‘The architect was Thomas Houston of Wellington Place and he produced an unfussy, compact looking building with a basic classical facade. The auditorium was spacious with a high ceiling; seating was for 750 patrons’.
The Electric Cinema, which opened on 22 August 1910, was the second of five cinemas to open in the city that year (it was the first year of a cinema building boom in Belfast, which continued right through to 1920). All the evidence suggests the Electric was rather primitive (and not custom or purpose built as has been suggested), indeed Fred Stewart the owner closed it after a few months (possibly in October). Its replacement was much improved but didn’t open until April 1911. From then on its name kept changing, with variations including – BB (Bright & Beautiful) Picture Palace, PP (Perfect & Pleasant) Pictures and People’s Popular Picture Palace. Just when it seemed it had settled on The Palace (or the York Street Picture Palace), there was yet another change. Around 14 December 1912 it became the Silver Cinema and this time it stuck with the name, until its closure in 1915.
The Electric was the first cinema to open in the city centre in 1910. The site is now part of the Belfast campus of Ulster University.
The Picture House was opened on 19 June 1911 by Provincial Cinematograph Theatres Ltd (PCT). Due, possibly, to the civil unrest in the city in the early 1920s, PCT pulled out (in 1922) and the cinema was taken over by the building’s landlords, who formed a company called Northern Theatres to run it. In 1965 Rank undertook a complete modernisation of the cinema which included the installation of the most up-to-date projection equipment (to bring it up to ‘London West End standards’). Rank also changed its name to the Avenue (its nickname but never its official name) from 7 June 1965. In 1974 Rank pulled out of Northern Ireland and a local operator (Belfast Cinemas Ltd) took over; it retained the Avenue name until the cinemas eventual closure.
The Kelvin, having been taken over by British film producer Raymond Stross and undergone a complete refurbishment and upgrade of its facilities, became the New Kelvin on 28 September 1942. The war having ended, even more radical changes followed, including a new frontage and canopy; from 18 March 1946 it became the Mayfair (still Raymond Stross Theatres, Shaftesbury Avenue, London but later Mayfair Theatres Ireland). The Mayfair closed down in April 1958 but later that year (by 20 December), the News & Cartoon cinema (operated by Capitol & Provincial News Theatres) replaced it. In 1966 the Capitol & Provincial chain was taken over by Classic Cinemas, headquartered in London’s Baker Street, and so the cinema became the Classic (a name it retained until its closure) on 7 November 1966.
Just to clarify my last comment re the takeover in April 1951. The man behind this acquisition was George Lodge, who by this time already controlled the Imperial cinema in Corn Market and Warden Ltd., the owners of the Royal cinema in Arthur Street and the Grand Opera House (next door to the Hippodrome). Lodge was, undoubtedly, the most significant figure on the Belfast cinema and theatre scene from the late forties until the early sixties.
ABC’s lease expired in July 1938 and a new operator, David Forrester Theatres Ltd (who had built up a chain of theatres and cinemas in England), took over. Forrester changed the bill to a mix of live performances and films. By 1940, though, the Hippodrome had come under local control again with G. L. Birch taking charge. Films became,again, the predominant entertainment but live performances were not overlooked. In April 1951 it was acquired by Warden Ltd, the owners of the Grand Opera House next door. In 1960 the Hippodrome was sold to Rank (as was the Opera House) and became an Odeon on 16 October 1961. It was announced on 11 November 1974 that Rank had sold all its Northern Ireland cinemas (14 including a number which had closed) to a group of local businessmen, who had formed a new company, Belfast Cinemas Ltd., to run them. The cinema changed its name to the New Vic on 21 April 1975.
This cinema was planned by Irish Theatres (one of the two largest locally owned chains at the time). In 1955, while the cinema was still under construction,Irish Theatres was acquired by Rank (Odeon), who opened it on 17 June that year.
After undergoing an extensive reconstruction, modernisation, creation of a separate circle and other improvements, the Tivoli reopened as the Gaumont on 26 December 1966 (not 1961). After Rank sold its Northern Irish estate to Belfast Cinemas (a local independent created for the purpose) in 1974, the Gaumont reverted to its original name (Gaumont being a trade mark of Rank), on 24 March 1975. The building has since been demolished and replaced by appartments.
Owned by Queen’s University Belfast, Queen’s Film Theatre AKA QFT opened on 14 October 1968. A second screen, also using a converted lecture theatre, opened on 10 October 1988 (150 seats). A new entrance was created at 20 University Square in December 2002 and the former entrance at University Square Mews was closed. The newly created complex incorporated two separate buildings (20 University Square and the existing cinema building) and also involved some new build and reconstruction. It was opened on 22 October 2004. Among the many changes was the creation of a new Screen 2 (91 seats), situated alongside the existing Screen 1.
Warner Village Cinemas opened at the Odyssey Pavilion, with a special preview event, on the evening of 17 June 2001. Subsequently, Vue took over (its website myvue.com replaced warnervillage.co.uk around 3 September 2004) but it doesn’t seem to have rebranded the cinema as Vue – the adverts in the press continued to use the Warner Village Cinemas name and logos. By 21 April 2006, however, a new name was in place, Village Cinemas, though still using the myvue.com address. This scenario continued until 2 June 2006 when the first press advert for Storm Cinemas appeared. The cinema had reverted to Village (Village-Theatres 3 Ltd) management by the summer of 2010 and was rebranded as Odyssey Cinemas; the first press advert appeared on 4 June 2010.
The 10-screen MGM opened to the public on 15 July 1993, a preview event having been held the previous night. It was a replacement for the Cannon Film Centre (a 4-screen) in Fisherwick Place, approximately five minutes walking distance from the new cinema. Cannon had been acquired by Pathe Communications, who subsequently bought MGM. Seating capacity in the screens was listed as 436, 354, 272, 264, 262, 252, 187, 187, 169, 118. The cinema subsequently changed hands and its name on three separate occasions. On 4 July 1996 it became Virgin Cinemas. By February 2000 it had become part of UGC Cinemas; the first advertisement to carry the UGC name appeared in the press on 17 March 2000. In December 2003 it passed into local ownership for the first time, having been taken over by Movie House Cinemas; the first advertisement under the new regime appeared in the press on 23 December 2003.
The additional 6 screens were fully operational by 27 March 1998.
The last day under ABC ownership was 12 November 1977. The Strand then closed for a week and reopened on 19 November; the lease had been acquired by a local independent operator. However, despite what has been described as “brave efforts” by the new owner, it finally closed for films on 19 November 1983. It was reopened by local businessman Ronnie Rutherford in 1984 as the Strand Variety Theatre; the many well-known acts who performed on its stage included The Drifters and Little and Large. It continued as a live performance venue until 1987 when it closed again. Ronnie Rutherford had always entertained the hope that the Strand would return to being a cinema and his dream became a reality when it reopened for films on 29 April 1988. It had been converted into a 4-screen complex; close on £500,000 had been spent on transforming the building. By 2013 the Strand found itself having to compete with a increasing number of new multiplexes so it took the decision to cease trading as a commercial cinema and reinvented itself as the Strand Arts Centre, a not-for-profit charitable venture, to ensure the short-term survival of the building. There are longer term plans (which include the retention of the four existing screens) to completely renovate the Strand.
The Gala Show on 26 September 1990 (it opened to the general public the following day) was the first cinema in what has since become the Movie House Cinemas chain. Originally the building (previously a furniture retail outlet) housed five screens but a sixth was added around 24 May 1991. In 2018, the interior and exterior of the building underwent a significant makeover – improvements have included the introduction of new VIP seating in screens 1 and 2.
Following conversion to a 4-screen, it reopened as the ABC Film Centre on 19 June 1980 (not 1981). When it was taken over by Cannon in 1986, it was rebranded as the Cannon Film Centre. When it closed in July 1993, it was replaced at the same time by the MGM 10-screen on the Dublin Road, barely 5 minutes walking distance from the old cinema.
Movieland officially opened on 19 March 1999. The report in the local paper said it had a seating capacity of almost 1,000. One of the six screens had a small stage for shows and seminars. There was also a restaurant on the first floor.