Neale's Musick Hall, Dublin

Neale's Musick Hall, also known as Mr. Neal's New Musick Hall, Mr. Neale's Great Room, Neal's Musick Room, the Great Musick Hall, Neale's Great Musick Hall or the Fishamble Street Music Hall was a purpose-built music hall that existed on Fishamble Street in Dublin city centre. It was built using subscriptions from a charitable organisation named 'The Charitable and Musical Society', and operated from 1741 until the mid-19th century. William Neale, a local musical instrument-maker and music publisher, was the secretary/treasurer of the society during the conception and construction phase of the project. The building is most notable for the premiere of Handel's Messiah which took place within it on the afternoon of 13 April 1742.

History

Foundation and Handel's ''Messiah''

At the end of the 17th century, convivial impromtu musical meetings were often held in two taverns on Fishamble Street named ''The George'' and ''The Bull's Head'' by a group, naming itself 'The Bull's Head Musical Society'. In 1707, the erection of the nearby Custom House on ''Custom House Quay'' increased the economic profile of the area, with shops, taverns, coffee houses, printers, publishers, theatres and brothels proliferating with the increase of trade and mercantile activity. By 1723, The Bull's Head Musical Society had elected local instrument-maker John Neal (or Neale) as its president. Neal was also a music publisher and in 1724 published the earliest printed collection of Irish music, which included pieces by Irish harpist Turlough O'Carolan. At some point after this, the group renamed themselves as the ''Charitable and Musical Society'' and decided to take on the duty of raising funds for insolvent debtors in some of Dublin's notorious debtor's prisons, including The Black Dog. Dublin was home to a number of charitable musical organisations at the time, which would often alter their names slightly whenever they moved their organising committees from one tavern to another.

The Charitable and Musical Society met every Friday evening, and when a concert was over would typically finish the night with ' catch singing, mutual friendship, and harmony'. It cost five shillings, 'an English crown', to become a member of the society, and had both Catholic and Protestant members, and titled gentlemen as well as artisans. John Neale died in 1737 and was succeeded by his son William, who would be pivotal in the planning and construction of the Musick Hall, built specifically to accommodate concerts for the benefit of the charity. Prior to the society's decision to raise funds for the construction of this dedicated Musick Hall, there had been a venue in the Bull's Head Tavern known as 'the Great Room in Fishamble Street' which offered space for concerts and balls. There had also been another venue known as the Philharmonick Room located on the same street, situated opposite St. John's Church, which had been built for a group known as the ''Musical Academy for the Practice of Italian Musick'' (renamed the ''Philharmonick Society'' in 1741) as a replacement for their hall on Crow Street. The Bull's Head Tavern itself was the largest cage-work house still standing on the western side of Fishamble Street at the time, and belonged to the Dean and Chapter of nearby Christ Church Cathedral. The society engaged Richard Cassels to build the Musick Hall on a site facing the Bull's Head Tavern. Cassels' commission came more or less at the same time as his contract to design Tyrone House on Marlborough Street in Dublin for Marcus Beresford, 1st Earl of Tyrone.

On 2 October 1741, Neale's Musick Hall was formally opened on Fishamble Street. Accommodating seven hundred people, it was Ireland's largest concert venue. Laurence Whyte, a poet with connections to the Charitable Musical Society, provided the only known description of the internal design of the Music Hall in his 1742 poem entitled 'A Poetical Description of Mr. Neal's New Musick-Hall in Fishamble-street, Dublin'. The poem has been noted by Dr. Michael Griffin of University of Limerick as being "of interest not just to literary historians but also architectural historians". To help defray expenses, the hall was hired out to other organisations and individuals, including two women named Mrs Hamilton and Mrs Walker who organised an 'Assembly' every Saturday evening. Advertisements purchased by the women to promote their assemblies in the press described the venue as "The Charitable Musick Hall in Fishamble-street, which is finished in the genteelest manner". The existence of the two concert halls; Neale's and the Philharmonick Room, solidified Fishamble Street's reputation as the hub of Dublin's serious musical appreciation for the coming decades until 1767 when the Rotunda Room in association with Dr. Mosse's Lying-in Hospital began to compete with it.

Handel's decision to give a season of concerts in Dublin in the winter of 1741–42 arose as a result of an invitation on behalf of the Duke of Devonshire, then serving as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. According to historian Jonathan Bardon, Handel and the Duke were probably not acquainted, as Devonshire, unlike his viceregal predecessors, did not subscribe to opera in London. It is known, however, that the invitation was ultimately sent at the behest of the Charitable and Musical Society for the Release of Imprisoned Debtors, along with two other recognised charities in the city of Dublin at the time, namely the Charitable Infirmary on Cook Street (founded in 1718) and Mercer's Hospital