Coliseum Cinema

1 McCurtain Street,
Cork

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Additional Info

Architects: Arthur Hill, Henry H. Hill

Functions: Bowling Alley, Laser Tag

Styles: Streamline Moderne

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Coliseum Cinema

A large hall on the Glanmire side of Cork City centre, the Coliseum Cinema was opened on 9th September 1913 by Southern Coliseums Ltd.

I was working as projectionist there for three weeks, beginning at the end of November 1963. Most of Cork was draped in black and mourning the death of President Kennedy. The cinema did terrific business every day of the week which quite surprised me after my previous experiences of less consistent Welsh cinema patronage. People who wanted balcony seats were booking a week in advance, whilst we turned people away every night. The film we were showing was “Rooney”, the unexciting life story of a Dublin dustman - starring John Gregson.

The Coliseum Cinema was closed on 4th April 1964 with “The Man in the Iron Mask”. In 2009, the remodeled building is the Coliseum Leasureplex operating at 1 McCurtain Street, which consists of a bowling alley, Zoo and Lazer centre.

Contributed by Editha Pearce

Recent comments (view all 3 comments)

irishcine
irishcine on June 22, 2009 at 10:39 am

The Coliseum Theatre dates from 1913, the architects were W H Hill of Cork and Mr Houston of Belfast, where some of the company promoters were based and the Contractors were O'Connell and Company. It has been some years since I saw this building but the original building was still standing at that time, long out of use as a cinema.

popcorn_pete
popcorn_pete on September 10, 2016 at 6:29 pm

Definitely the same building although the inside has been stripped and has nothing of cinematic interest. Scaffolding was up on the outside just recently so maybe a facelift is imminent. It opened on 9 September 1913 with 700 seats in stadium plan. Closed with the Man in the Iron Mask on 4 April 1964. Used as a sorting office after closure but now as stated is a bowling alley and amusement centre.

popcorn_pete
popcorn_pete on September 27, 2016 at 3:03 pm

New photo added today.

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