music halls

music halls in Ireland, as in England, developed from taverns and inns rather than from the conventional theatre. Henry Connell's Dublin tavern was offering food and drink, accompanied by a number of short entertainments, in 1855. In such early halls drinking was undoubtedly more important, for both patrons and proprietors, than entertainment. In 1871 Ireland's first purpose‐built music hall, the Alhambra, was opened in Belfast. Its owner was Daniel Lowrey, an Irish‐born Yorkshireman, already established as a music hall proprietor and performer in Liverpool. In 1878 Lowrey acquired Connell's former Dublin premises, which he rebuilt. Cork did not acquire a large‐scale music hall until 1897. Halls differed from theatres in that they permitted drinking and eating in the auditorium. They also required no drama licences, as programmes consisted only of a series of short acts. Programmes were versatile enough to include circuses, boxing matches, and topical sketches. Irish halls employed local performers, but were also part of a circuit followed by famous British acts such as Marie Lloyd and Harry Lauder (although the latter was booed off stage at his first Belfast performance). All classes attended shows at the halls, though they were condemned by churchmen and temperance campaigners. By 1910 music halls were the premier entertainment venue for Ireland's growing urban population, though most Irish halls were now owned by British conglomerates. Their decline, almost complete by 1923, was precipitated in part by the disruption of the First World War and following conflicts, but also by several other factors. Though the halls themselves were now more luxurious, many established ‘turns’ had either died or retired, and new acts did not replace them. Theatres began to stage musical reviews that rivalled the halls. Most importantly, cinema, previously a frequent component of music hall presentations, began to draw its own audience.

Bibliography

Watters, E., and and Murtagh, M. , Infinite Variety: Dan Lowrey's Music Hall 1879–97 (1975)

Neal Garnham