The Ambassador Cinema was

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

's longest-running cinema and was operational on and off until 1999. It operated as a music venue between 2001 and 2008. The Ambassador's current use is as an exhibition hall and event centre. The building was constructed as part of the Rotunda Hospital in 1764 as an assembly hall and social rooms on what is now called Parnell Street. From 1897 onwards, the venue was given the name Rotund Room and hosted a number of "moving picture" screenings which were a great novelty at the time. From about 1908 onwards, it was used more regularly to show film presentations and in 1910 it became a full-time cinema, with 736 seats, a basic layout at the time. Again known as the Rotunda (its nickname being the 'Roto' or the 'Roxy'), the cinema-going public thronged to the venue. Over the years, the cinema changed hands until the 1940s when it was run by ''Capitol and Allied Theatres Ltd''. In the 1950s, the cinema was redesigned, increasing the capacity to 1,200. Added to the main hall was a balcony (containing 500 seats) with private boxes. A new entrance area was also constructed. The cinema was reopened on 23 September 1954 as the Ambassador. It became a gala event venue, holding screenings of many films for the first time. Of note was the screening of

The Blue Max ''The Blue Max'' is a 1966 British war film directed by John Guillermin and starring George Peppard, James Mason, Ursula Andress, Karl Michael Vogler, and Jeremy Kemp. The film was made in DeLuxe Color and filmed in CinemaScope. The plot i ...

in 1966, which was shot in Ireland. For the screening, a

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

plane adorned the roof of the cinema above the entrance. In 1977, the cinema was forced to close briefly, but it reopened that summer under new ownership. ''The Green Group'' ran the cinema until 1988, and the cinema mainly played children's films such as

The Care Bears Movie ''The Care Bears Movie'' is a 1985 animated musical fantasy film directed by Arna Selznick from a screenplay by Peter Sauder. This was the second feature film from the Canadian animation studio Nelvana (after the 1983 film ''Rock & Rule''), ...

and its sequels. In 1988, with single-screen cinemas on the wane, it closed. However, in 1994 it was given a new lease of life when it reopened under the ownership of Ward Anderson. Notable screenings upon reopening included

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, Unit ...

, however, attendances were poor, most notably when a reissue of the 1935 film The Informer was screened to as few as two people per show. On 27 September 1999, after 45 years, the cinema closed. This however was not the end of the venue. Entertainment promoters

MCD Productions MCD Productions is an Irish concert promotion company. Established in 1980, and headquartered in Dún Laoghaire, County Dublin. History The company was founded by Eamonn McCann and Denis Desmond, the company name MCD is made up of their ini ...

leased the building and for a number of years ran The Ambassador as a live music venue, until 2008. The Ambassador now hosts a variety of events including exhibitions, one-off concerts and corporate events. Recent events include Bodies exhibition, CSI: The Experience, Dinosaur Encounters, Princess Exhibition, Game On, Santa's Playland, Xbox launch, Jameson Live presents White Lies, and running from Spring to Summer 2014, Lego exhibition The Art Of The Brick.

External links

Guide to venue on TicketmasterReviews of various concerts in Ambassador Theatre, Dublin
{{Cinemas of Dublin Former cinemas in Dublin (city) Parnell Square 1897 establishments in Ireland