The National Opera House, formerly the Wexford Opera House, is a theatre in

Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 ...

, Ireland. It was officially opened on 5 September 2008 in a ceremony with An Taoiseach

Brian Cowen Brian Bernard Cowen (born 10 January 1960) is an Irish former politician who served as Taoiseach and Leader of Fianna Fáil from 2008 to 2011. Cowen was elected to Dáil Éireann in 1984, for the constituency of Laois–Offaly and served in a ...

, followed by a live broadcast of RTÉ's '' The Late Late Show'' from the

O'Reilly Theatre The O'Reilly Theatre is a flexible studio theatre on Blackhall Road, central north Oxford, England. It is located within Keble College, one of the University of Oxford colleges. The theatre was completed in 2002. Seating capacity of the spac ...

. It was built on the site of the former

Theatre Royal, Wexford The Theatre Royal, was an opera house and performance venue in Wexford Ireland which opened in 1832 and closed in 2005. It was the home of the annual Wexford Festival Opera, and has now been replaced by The National Opera House. History The th ...

, which was demolished to facilitate the development, the need for a new opera house was a result of the success of the

Wexford Festival Opera Wexford Festival Opera () is an opera festival that takes place in the town of Wexford in south-eastern Ireland during the months of October and November. The festival began in 1951 under Tom Walsh and a group of opera lovers who quickly gene ...

and the provision of a theatre, concert and conference venue in Wexford. The Opera House consists of the 771 seat O'Reilly Theatre and the smaller Jerome Hynes Theatre, seating up to 176. It was designed and built by the architect Keith Williams Architects with the Office of Public Works. The Opera House was used for 2014 Sinn Féin Ard Fheis. The building was officially renamed as Ireland's National Opera House by the

Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs The Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media ( ga, An tAire Turasóireachta, Cultúir, Ealaíon, Gaeltachta, Spóirt agus Meán) is a senior minister in the Government of Ireland and leads the Department of Tourism, Cultu ...

Heather Humphreys Heather Humphreys (born 14 May 1963) is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has served as Minister for Rural and Community Development and Minister for Social Protection since June 2020. She also briefly served as Minister for Justice in November ...

, at the opening of the 2014 Wexford Festival.Wexford Opera House recognised as Ireland’s National Opera House
Wexford Festival Opera media report. Retrieved 30 September 2016.

References

External links

Wexford Opera Festival official websiteNational Opera House official website Wexford Light Opera Society official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:National Opera House Buildings and structures in County Wexford Music venues completed in 2008 Opera houses in the Republic of Ireland Theatres completed in 2008 Wexford Festival Opera Recipients of Civic Trust Awards