Grand Central Cinema
6 Lower O'Connell Street,
Dublin
D01 X324
6 Lower O'Connell Street,
Dublin
D01 X324
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Additional Info
Architects: Frederick William Higginbotham
Firms: Robinson & Keefe
Previous Names: D.B.C. Picture House
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Situated in the north of the city centre, the Dublin Bread Company’s headquarters were destroyed during the 1916 Rebellion.
Rebuilding on the site started in 1919. The new building included a cinema, which opened on 10th October 1921 as the D.B.C. Picture House, but soon became known as the Grand Central Cinema.
The building had a striking stone facade, designed in the Neo-Classical style, with a distinctive glazed canopy that extended over the pavement. The teak-panelled foyer led into an auditorium that had an eye-catching, domed ceiling - and the city’s steepest raked balcony.
The glazed canopy was badly damaged during a bomb attack in April 1923 and later removed.
Sadly, more misfortune visited the Grand Central on 13th September 1946, when a violent electrical storm caused a fire which completely gutted the building. The site was sold in 1949 to Hibernian Bank, which erected a new building behind the reconstructed facade. The building is now home to a branch of Bank of Ireland.
Contributed by
David Simpson
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Recent comments (view all 1 comments)
In 1913, plans were submitted by Frederick William Higginbotham for a ‘New picture theatre at Grand Restaurant, for William Kaye, ornamental plasterwork by M. Creedon, Dublin’. Then, in 1917, by the same architect ‘In destroyed area, 1916 - proposed reconstruction.’ The tale of woe isn’t quite complete, as, apparently, plans were submitted by Robinson & Keefe for ‘Reconstruction of part of building and refurbishment after fire of Dec 1933, for Walter McNally’, plans for proposed alterations were also submitted by the same practice in 1946 for alterations. A rather ‘unlucky’ building!