The Queen's Theatre, Dublin, located in
Pearse Street
Pearse Street () (formerly Great Brunswick Street) is a major street in Dublin. It runs from College Street in the west to MacMahon Bridge in the east, and is one of the city's longest streets. It has several different types of residential and c ...
was originally built in 1829 as the Adelphi Theatre. This building was demolished in 1844 and rebuilt. It reopened that same year as the Queens Royal Theatre,
the new owner having been granted a Royal
Patent
A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...
to operate as a
patent theatre. The theatre quickly became known as simply the Queen's.
It was most famous in the 20th century as the home of the Happy Gang,
a troupe of comics, singers and musicians including Danny Cummins, Jimmy Harvey, Mick Eustace and
Cecil Nash. The regular members of the "gang" took part in sketches as required, but in addition each had to be a solo performer in his own right.
Suspected political associations
During the
War of Independence
This is a list of wars of independence (also called liberation wars). These wars may or may not have been successful in achieving a goal of independence.
List
See also
* Lists of active separatist movements
* List of civil wars
* List o ...
, popular Queen's Theatre manager John Lawrence Christopher "Jack" Sullivan made headlines across Ireland when he was arrested by the military in the early hours of Thursday, 14 October 1920 on suspicion of
Sinn Fein
In the philosophy of language, the distinction between sense and reference was an idea of the German philosopher and mathematician Gottlob Frege in 1892 (in his paper "On Sense and Reference"; German: "Über Sinn und Bedeutung"), reflecting the ...
membership in the weeks leading up to
Bloody Sunday
Bloody Sunday may refer to:
Historical events Canada
* Bloody Sunday (1923), a day of police violence during a steelworkers' strike for union recognition in Sydney, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia
* Bloody Sunday (1938), police violence aga ...
.
Sullivan had been assistant manager for many years but only weeks earlier had replaced Charlie Wright as manager.
The British military broke open the back door of his home at 28
Lower Mount St sometime after 1am.
Upholstered chairs were ripped open, pictures dismantled, and doors were torn off two cabinets, and papers examined in a 'long thorough search'
of Sullivan's home, in the dark, as the gas meter was broken.
The military surrounded and raided houses number 28, 29, and 30, which belonged to Sullivan's mother-in-law Margaret O'Mara nee Cronan.
Sullivan was taken onto Lower Mount St in his night attire and questioned about Sinn Fein battalion membership, along with a Queen's actor who rented a room upstairs, J Clancy.
Sullivan, and a 17-year-old student lodger named Mr Herriott from
Nenagh
Nenagh (, ; or simply ''An tAonach'') meaning “The Fair of Ormond” or simply "The Fair", is the county town and second largest town in County Tipperary in Ireland. Nenagh used to be a market town, and the site of the East Munster Ormond ...
at number 29, was arrested under the
defence of the realm regulations by
General Boyd and taken to Ship St Barracks at
Dublin Castle
Dublin Castle ( ga, Caisleán Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a former Motte-and-bailey castle and current Irish government complex and conference centre. It was chosen for its position at the highest point of central Dublin.
Until 1922 it was the s ...
.
It is believed he was released without charge the following day.
Neither had any connection with politics, 'and their arrests have occasioned much surprise'.
A month later, six doors up, British Army Intelligence Officer Lieutenant Henry Angliss (cover name 'Patrick McMahon',) was shot by the IRA at 22 Lower Mount Street on
Bloody Sunday
Bloody Sunday may refer to:
Historical events Canada
* Bloody Sunday (1923), a day of police violence during a steelworkers' strike for union recognition in Sydney, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia
* Bloody Sunday (1938), police violence aga ...
.
The military returned to number 30 the following Monday night and arrested Sullivan's brother-in-law William Frances O'Mara, but it's not believed any charges were laid.
Sullivan resigned in 1924 to pursue other theatrical enterprises.
Union controversy
Eleven men were brought before the Dublin District Court and bound to six months of good behaviour, and banned from picketing the Queens Theatre, after they were charged with illegal picketing in late 1924.
It was a muscle-flexing exercise by trade unionist
James Larkin
James Larkin (28 January 1874 – 30 January 1947), sometimes known as Jim Larkin or Big Jim, was an Irish republican, socialist and trade union leader. He was one of the founders of the Irish Labour Party along with James Connolly and Willia ...
and his new
Worker's Union of Ireland, following the theatre's ownership change the previous week.
Larkin had just been released from
Sing Sing
Sing Sing Correctional Facility, formerly Ossining Correctional Facility, is a maximum-security prison operated by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision in the village of Ossining, New York. It is about north of ...
and had returned to Ireland the previous year, and had fallen out of favour with his former union, the
ITGWU
The Irish Transport and General Workers Union (ITGWU), was a trade union representing workers, initially mainly labourers, in Ireland.
History
The union was founded by James Larkin in January 1909 as a general union. Initially drawing its memb ...
.
Final days
The
Abbey Theatre
The Abbey Theatre ( ga, Amharclann na Mainistreach), also known as the National Theatre of Ireland ( ga, Amharclann Náisiúnta na hÉireann), in Dublin, Ireland, is one of the country's leading cultural institutions. First opening to the p ...
took over the building after the Abbey fire of 1951 and remained until July 1966. The lease was then put up for sale. Trinity College Dublin were the ground landlords, but the Department of Education refused to grant them the funds to purchase the building. The lease was purchased by Herbert McNally, who was involved in the cinema business. He attempted to secure planning permission to build a office block, and when this was refused he sold it to George Colley.
The theatre closed in 1969 and was demolished in 1975.
The new building, Áras An Phiarsaigh, was built on the site.
References
*Ryan, Philip B. ''The Lost Theatres of Dublin''. (The Badger Press, 1998)
Theatres in Dublin (city)
Theatres completed in 1829
Buildings and structures demolished in 1975
Demolished buildings and structures in Dublin
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