Dublin is the epicentre of Irish cinemagoing, with the highest concentration of cinema buildings. In the first of a six-part series, Marc Zimmermann charts the history of Dublin cinemas, and asks what – if anything – is being done to preserve them.

Architectural and social history
Dublin has possessed a wealth of over one hundred and twenty different cinemas and dedicated venues from 1896 to today. They have ranged from the earliest venues of the 1910s, created from converted shops, through the lavish, purpose-built cinema palaces of the thirties, to the streamlined multiplexes of today. This article series will attempt to shed some light on more than one hundred years of going to the movies in Dublin, focussing on the buildings and their history.

For many moviegoers the cinema is a place of magic, much more than a mere shell for the screen, projector, and an audience looking forward to be entertained, moved, thrilled, and maybe even to be educated a little bit along the way. Many of them, ranging from the obscure to the well known, have disappeared forever. Few historic cinema structures remain, some of them converted to new uses, others closed and under threat.

Unfortunately here – and across most of Europe – a conscious preservation effort regarding this particular category of our built and social heritage has never been made. Over the last three years alone a staggering fifteen historic Dublin cinemas have been closed, torn down, or come under immediate threat of demolition. A significant part of Dublin and Ireland's architectural and social heritage is dwindling at a frightening pace.

The full article is printed in Film Ireland 108.