On the 19 December 2015 the Savoy Hotel celebrates 80 years of the Savoy name in Limerick. On the 15 December 2015 the site was discussed on Limerick’s Live 95FM‘s Today Show, with Ronan Branningan, manager of the Savoy Hotel, Tom English, former manager of the Savoy Theatre (1954-1962) and Sharon Slater, historian.
Image via carlaburns.com
Brief facts of the original Savoy Theatre:
- Opened by the Mayor of Limerick at 8pm on 19 December 1935
- Founded by Irish Cinemas Ltd.,
- Leslie C. Norton, architect, built it in an Art Deco style
- Cost £30,000 to build
- It had just under 1,500 seats
- First film was Brewster’s Millions
- The orchestra pit had a built in Compton Organ
- 1937 – Cromwell Brother, trapeze artists, performed over head the audience
- 1938 – Extra seats were brought in by John McCormack
- 1948 – The Ranks Organisation took over Irish Cinemas Ltd.,
- 1960s – building expanded, Talk of the Town cafe added
- Music acts included: Joe Dolan, Eric Clapton, Rory Gallagher, Madness and Roy Orbison
- The Cinema safety curtain shows adverts for local businesses
- It closed on 28 March 1988 and was demolished the following year
Further reading:
- Rock and Roll Days at The Savoy: The Last Years of Limerick’s Great Theatre by Mike Maguire, Old Limerick Journal, Vol. 44, Winter 2010
- Brief introduction to the other Limerick cinemas
- House Full by Joe Coleman (Limerick 2014)
