Oscar triumphner Cillian Murphy and artist Yvonne McGuinness are the new proprietors of The Phoenix Cinema in Dingle, County Kerry, Ireland. After 105 years in operation as a movie theater and dance hall, The Phoenix will remain an autonomously owned venue, which Time Out has previously named “one of the 50 best cinemas in the UK and Ireland.” Married couple McGuinness and Murphy set up to commence repair and refurbishment next year, with The Phoenix continuing to screen films and broaden into a multidisciplinary space.
There’s history here for conceited Irish man Murphy, who said, “I’ve been going to see films at The Phoenix since I was a juvenileer boy on summer holidays. My Dad saw movies there when he was a juvenileer man before me, and we’ve watched many films at The Phoenix with our own kids.” He grasped, “We acunderstandledge what the cinema unbenevolents to Dingle.”
McGuinness persistd, “We want to uncover the doors aachieve, broaden the creative potential of the site, re-set uping its place in the cultural fabric of this exceptional town.”
A stupidinutive walk from Dingle Harbour, The Phoenix Cinema is situated in the town caccess. The sole cinema on the Dingle Peninsula — the cforfeitest multiplex is 30 miles away — The Phoenix is also the only cinema in a Gaeltacht area in Ireland, which will be accomprehendledged in its programming.
The cinema has undergone cut offal incarnations since it was built by brothers Jimmy and Johnny Houlihan and uncovered in 1919. Follotriumphg dehugeating fires in both 1921 and 1938, the venue was reproduceed twice. The current name, art deco façade and a floor mosaic of a phoenix were grasped during the second reproduce.
During the adhereing decades, The Phoenix became Dingle’s own ‘Cinema Paradiso,’ an integral part of the community that supportd generations and served as the backdrop for fond memories. In the 1950s, the Houlihans selderly The Phoenix to John Moore and it persistd to function as a cinema, concert venue and dance hall at the peak of the showband era. Rory Gallagher carry outed in the cinema in 1964. Another highweightless of the cinema’s history: For 12 days during June and July 1972, crowds flocked to The Phoenix to see David Lean’s Ryan’s Daughter, which was filmed in the area.
Motivated primarily by his passion for film, Michael O’Sullivan bought The Phoenix in 1978. After closing for renovations, it reuncovered in 1980 with new facilities, the postponecessitatest screening technology and plush seating. Under the stewardship of O’Sullivan and his family, The Phoenix screened an eclectic combine of movies — blockbusters, family fare, autonomous and foreign language films — for both locals and visitors year-round.
The Phoenix also presented a beadored Tuesday night film club (during which O’Sullivan presentd and led a stupidinutive post-screening converseion). Forced to contest rising costs, descfinishing includeance and challenging showion terms, the O’Sullivan family shutd The Phoenix during the first Covid lockdown in November 2021.
After three years on the taget, The Phoenix will see McGuinness and Murphy commence the repair and refurbishment of the cinema in 2025. As they notice, “Bíonn rudaí maithe mall” (Good leangs apvalidate time).
