From the archives: Fire destroyed Mayo cinema in 1948

By Tom Gillespie

FOR over 70 years the County Cinema on Spencer Street in Castlebar was one of the most popular entertainment venues in the county town.

The cinema closed down in 1999 but just over half a century earlier the premises was completely destroyed by fire.

The Connaught Telegraph had a detailed account of the outbreak that gutted the building on Saturday, March 6, 1948.

The newspaper reported: Damage estimated at £25,000 was caused when the County Cinema, Castlebar, was completely destroyed by fire in the early hours of Saturday morning.

The fire had a firm grip on the building when it was detected at about 5 a.m. and following a terrific explosion the interior was reduced to a heap of rubble in a very short time.

Castlebar fire brigade eliminated possibilities of the fire spreading to the adjoining business premises (then Geraghty’s Commercial Hotel, later Mitchell’s and the Connaught Inn today) where, for a short time, the residents were preparing to evacuate, while children were removed from other nearby houses.

This was one of the most destructive fires to take place in Castlebar in living memory. The origin of the fire is unknown.

The fire was observed round about the same time by a number of nearby residents. One of the residents first on the scene was Mr. Patrick Ketterick. He lives in close proximity to the cinema and he told our correspondent that about 5 a.m. he was aroused by the crackling noise and smell of something burning.

Thinking that it was his own house that was on fire he rushed to the window, where he observed smoke coming out off the side of the cinema.

Just as he was about to rush to the garda barracks to report the matter and summon the fire brigade a terrific explosion took place followed by a number of minor ones which blew the roof off the cinema and scattered fragments and sparks over a wide area.

At this stage the cinema was an inferno, shooting flames high into the sky which illuminated the town and could be seen for many miles away.

When Mr. Ketterick arrived at the barracks Sergeant Healy and members of the gardaí were just about to rush to the scene as they had been aroused by the explosion.

The explosion aroused people in all parts of the town and for some time a state of pandemonium existed as crowds of people, in the excitement of the moment, rushed to the scene.

For a time people living in the immediate vicinity were fear-stricken that their residences were in danger and in some cases children were removed from nearby houses.

The large crowd that had arrived on the scene inside a very short period were excited and suffering from shock as they stood silently gazing at the furious inferno which was speedily razing this imposing structure to the ground.

For a considerable period there seemed every likelihood that the fire would spread to Geraghty’s Commercial Hotel, which adjoined the cinema, and this caused further excitement and anxiety.

The fire brigade, under fire chief O’Connell, arrived promptly on the scene and prevented the flames from spreading to Geraghty’s.

The firemen also saved the imposing facade and the operating rooms of the cinema, but two projecting machines were damaged by the intense heat.

The films which were used for the previous night’s show were in the operating room and were unharmed.

The interior of the cinema - from the wall dividing the operating room and the balcony to the end wall where the screen was - was completely destroyed and all that remains is a heap of rubble consisting chiefly of the irons of the seats.

The explosion which occurred as the asbestos roof collapsed was caused by the expanding air escaping with the intense heat.

Mr. Brose Walsh’s dance band instruments, including a drum, amplifying set, saxophones, accordion, trumpets, etc., were all destroyed by the fire.

Mr. Walsh’s band had supplied incidental music at the Cine Variety Show the previous night and he left the musical instruments in the cinema as he had done every night for some time past while he was engaged supplying the music at Cine Variety Shows.

It was in 1917, just after the war, that Brose Walsh got his first big break when he was engaged to play nightly at the County Cinema, Castlebar, when there was a special variety show as part of the programme.

With this nightly performance it was not long until Brose built up a first class combination, and it was from then onwards he started fulfilling big engagements all over the country.

While the County Cinema booking was perhaps his first break, it was there he also got his first big setback. He was just after spending over €500 on purchasing a complete new outfit, which included amplifiers, a set of drums, new saxophone, accordion, etc., when the County Cinema was burned to the ground and everything was destroyed in the fire.

Through a defect in insurance, there was no compensation and it was a question of back to scratch. With borrowed instruments, the band played on in the true tradition of showmen.

Through hard work, Brose soon overcame the setback, but he never forgot the people who loaned him instruments, showed kindness and gave him a break.

The County Cinema was the property of Mr. Augustus Bourke, Maryland, Castlebar, and was officially opened in April 1938.

It was considered one of the most modern and up-to-date cinemas in the west and comparable with any of the larger cinemas in the country.

On the night of the fire the hilarious comedy ‘What Next Corporal Hardgrove’, starring Robert Walker and Keenan Wynn, was screened in the cinema.