REMEMBERING THE TIVOLI CAR PARK AS A UNIQUE LOCATION FOR STREET ART
[Original photographs 18 September 2012]
The Tivoli Car Park was unique in Dublin and it was located next to the Tivoli Theatre on Francis Street.
The Tivoli Theatre car park, which operated separately from the theatre, offered an urban canvas for aspiring and established street artists from all over Ireland and the rest of the world.
The Tivoli Theatre started life as the Conciliation Hall in 1834. Located on Burgh Quay, Dublin 2; It was built as a meeting place for Daniel O’Connell’s Repeal Association. In 1897, it was rebuilt as a concert hall called the Grand Lyric Hall and changed name to the Lyric Theatre of Varieties the following year. It became known as the Tivoli in 1901. It was a modest sized music hall with seating for 1252 patrons.
The Tivoli closed in 1928 but for a short time continued to show cine-variety on Sunday nights. Finally closed in 1930 and the building became the home of the Irish Press newspaper group.
The Tivoli Theatre situated on Francis Street in the heart of Dublin’s southern city centre, was a replacement for an earlier Tivoli Theatre located on Burgh Quay, which had closed in May 1928.
Built to the designs of architect Vincent Kelly with seating provided for 700. The Tivoli Theatre opened as a cine-variety theatre on 21 December 1934. In the late-1930s it converted to full-time cinema use and was renamed Tivoli Cinema.
The Tivoli Cinema was closed in September 1964. It was converted into a nightclub, and a shop, before finally re-opening as a live theatre in 1987 and renamed Tivoli Theatre. The venue housed two flexible performance spaces: the Tivoli Theatre located upstairs and the Tivoli Live situated on the ground floor.
Upstairs was an exclusive cinema styled theatre with a flexible stage area and an extensive lighting grid with a vast array of options for hanging. A unique and historic theatre, having played host to a long line of highly revered and well loved actors, playwrights, musicians and comedians from all over the globe. It could accommodate 475 patrons and was a highly desired space not only for the arts but for commercial use also.
The Tivoli theatre closed for redevelopment in 2019 and has been demolished
The owner describes this pub as a “Dublin Landmark Reimagined” … “Welcome to The Lucky Duck, an elegant neighbourhood pub and cocktail bar where we are making the old new again.”
The building has been vacant for at least twenty years and while I went to Kevin Street College, nearby, I cannot remember the name that it operated under but according to some of my fellow students it sold the cheapest pint in Dublin (I never knew if that was a recommendation or a warning).
I am not an expert when it comes to Dublin Pubs but to the best of my knowledge The Lucky Duck was originally to be called The Dutch Billy, after an architectural style of building that was once common in Dublin but when it was realised that the name might be considered to be a reference to William of Orange that idea was dropped.
Note: Dublin’s Dutch Billys [Gable fronted houses] were reputedly named after William of Orange, and their arrival in Dublin is generally attributed to an influx of French Huguenots after 1685 and to Dutch and Flemish Protestants fleeing persecution after 1690.
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