The Irish Times

Dublin has had 98 cinemas in its history and the Volta on Mary Street was not the first, according to a book on the capital's picture houses launched last night. The A-Z of All Old Dublin Cinemas, by George Kearns and Patrick Maguire, lists at least half a dozen venues where films were shown prior to the December 1909 opening of the Volta, which was managed by James Joyce. The early starters included the Tivoli on Burgh Quay, which showed "bioscope" pictures nightly in 1903, Hale's Cinema on South Anne Street, which dated from 1905, and the Palace Cinema on Townsend Street, which showed movies in 1908. Films were also shown at the Ancient Concert Rooms on Great Brunswick Street as early as December 1902. One of the oldest of all, "a cinema in disguise", according to the authors, was Samuel's Bazaar, on Henry Street, where in the late 1880s, a small screen at the back of the shop showed living pictures, while the owner's daughter, "Marcella the Midget Queen", sang to entertain the audience.