Many Irish cinema goers have fond memories of the old Lighthouse cinema on Dublin’s Abbey street. In a time before the IFI the Lighthouse was the only place in the country that had regular screenings of arthouse movies, making it a regular haunt for film fans.
There has been talk of the Lighthouse returning to Dublin for quite some time but nothing seemed to happen, now Movies.ie can now reveal that the cult cinema will reopen this year on Friday, May 9th. The four screen complex will open its doors with over 600-seats, a café and a bar. The new cinema will be located just off Smithfield square and will be operated by Neil Connolly and Maretta Dillon, who ran the original two-screen Lighthouse Cinema on Middle Abbey Street until it closed in the mid ‘90s.
Designed by award winning architects Derek Tynan Associates, the new Lighthouse Cinema promises a programme of the best Irish, independent, foreign language, art house and classic cinema. Speaking on behalf of Lighthouse Cinema, Neil Connolly said, “We plan to build on the traditions established by the original Light House and we are looking forward to welcoming back our loyal audience and to the challenges of building new audiences for world cinema.”
Stay tuned to Movies.ie for more news on the Lighthouse cinema soon.