Cinema screenings to return to Tubber
AWARD-WINNING DIRECTOR WILL BE GUEST OF HONOUR ON OPENING NIGHT
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REGULAR CINEMA screenings are returning to Tubbercurry after a more than 40 years absence.
On Thursday night, February 2nd, Emmy Award winning director Dearbhla Walsh, a native of Tubbercurry, will launch what many hope will be new era of cinema in the South Sligo capital with the screening of "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" in the iconic St. Brigid's Hall.
A local group, to be known as Clocktower Entertainment, has come together to organise return to the days of yore when cinema was part and parcel of weekly entertainment in Tubbercurry, a town with a long and proud stage and screen tradition.
Even the name "Clocktower Entertainment" has a resonance with the past, having been inspired by the clocktower in the town dedicated to the late Joe Masterson who died in 1989, and who was deeply involved with drama, among many other activities, during his life in the town.
As Tom Walsh explained, it is not exactly a new cinema that is stating in Tubbercurry but rather the resumption of screenings in St. Brigid's Hall, where films had been shown for years until the early 1970s.
"We have purchased a projector and screen and we plan to run films on a weekly basis," said Tom, who added that another local man involved was Sean Johnson, who was not only among those who organised screenings in the hall in the 1960s but has also been a longtime member of the St. Brigid's Hall committee, as well as being involved in the organisation of Tubbercurry Drama Festival.
Others involved are Peter Brennan, Mary Barry, Hall Committee Chairman Sean Walsh, Shane Walsh and Hugh O'boyle.
The idea of resuming film screenings in Tubbercurry goes back a number of years. A local production group, Laighne Films, made two features, "The Old Fair Day Conspiracy" in 2007 and "The 3:10 to Claremorris" in 2010, the latter Tom wrote himself and which he described as "a modern-day Western." Both of these films were premiered in St. Brigid's Hall to much acclaim, all of which prompted the idea of resuming film screenings there more regularly.
"Now we are going to run films on a weekly basis, on Thursday nights," said Tom, who adding that it was also hoped to have matinees for children at weekends.
Tom also pointed out that St. Brigid's Hall had tiered seating, helping to create "a cinema experience."
It is hoped to screen various classics, among them "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", the last film to be shown in St. Brigid's Hall in the early 1970s.
Tickets for the February 2nd gala reopening of Movie Night in Tubbercurry, which starts with a wine reception at 7:30 p.m., are available from Gillespie's and Margaret Kennedy.
- HARRY KEANEY
