The Mechanics' Hall, also known as the Hibernian Theatre of Varieties, was a

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

and music hall in Lower Abbey Street, Dublin. It stood at the site of the current

Abbey Theatre The Abbey Theatre (), also known as the National Theatre of Ireland () is a theatre in Dublin, Ireland. First opening to the public on 27 December 1904, and moved from its original building after a fire in 1951, it has remained active to the p ...

at 26 Lower Abbey Street. A theatre or circus has stood on this site on Lower Abbey Street since at least the early 19th century. In the mid-19th century, at the urging of Dublin's gentry, John Classon, an upper-class merchant, acquired the buildings then on the site, one of which had housed a circus, in order to establish a joint concert hall and civic institution for the lower classes. Those buildings became the Music Hall and the Mechanics' Institute. The Music Hall, which could seat 4000 persons, hosted concerts, lectures, and popular entertainments. The renowned black American abolitionist

Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 14, 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. He was the most impor ...

lectured at the Music Hall in 1845 during a four-month visit to Ireland. In 1850 and 1851

Pablo Fanque Pablo Fanque (born William Darby; 30 March 1810 – 4 May 1871) was a British Equestrianism, equestrian performer and Circus, circus proprietor, becoming the first recorded Black circus owner in Britain. His circus was popular in Victorian Brit ...

, the popular black equestrian and circus owner (immortalised later in

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

' song ''

Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" is a song recorded by the English rock band the Beatles for their 1967 album ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band''. It was written and composed primarily by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. ...

'') played to near-capacity Dublin crowds for weeks. During a March 1851 performance of Pablo Fanque's Circus Royal police were called in to quell a riot when playgoers threatened to riot and destroy the theatre in protest to the winner of a "conundrum" contest.The Caledonian Mercury, 3 April 1851 In the later 19th century, in the 1860s, the Music Hall was renamed the Mechanics' Theatre, after the adjacent Mechnanic's Institute. Mary Browne, mother of Shaun Glenville was manager of the theatre for a time.

Seán O'Casey Seán O'Casey ( ; born John Casey; 30 March 1880 – 18 September 1964) was an Irish dramatist and memoirist. A committed socialist, he was the first Irish playwright of note to write about the Dublin working classes. Early life O'Casey was ...

once appeared on stage there in a production of ''The Shaughraun'' by

Dion Boucicault Dionysius Lardner "Dion" Boucicault (né Boursiquot; 26 December 1820 – 18 September 1890) was an Irish actor and playwright famed for his melodramas. By the later part of the 19th century, Boucicault had become known on both sides of the ...

. The theatre was also known during this time as the Hibernian Theatre of Varieties, a name it retained until the building was acquired for the

at the beginning of the 20th century.

References

Other references

*Igoe, Vivien. ''A Literary Guide to Dublin''. (Methuen, 1994) *Ryan, Philip B. ''The Lost Theatres of Dublin''. (The Badger Press, 1998)

External links

* Playbills from performances at the Mechanics' Theatre kept i
the Carrickford Collection
at the

Library of Trinity College Dublin The Library of Trinity College Dublin () serves Trinity College, and is the largest library in Ireland. It is a legal deposit or "copyright library", which means that publishers in Ireland must deposit a copy of all their publications there ...

. Abbey Theatre Theatres in Dublin (city) {{Ireland-theat-struct-stub