From Times Past with Brian Gabriel

How the Emer Cinema and Ballroom came to be.

Emer; The fairest and most accomplished maiden in Ireland, was the wife of the hero Cuchulainn in Irish Legend. She had six gifts; beauty, song, pleasant speech, needlework, chastity and wisdom and was also a central figure in many of the legends.

In the austere days during and after the Second World War, travel was not easy and entertainment was at a premium. Due to the petrol scarcity and rationing, travelling to just about any of the major towns was extremely curtailed with the result that local communities had to rely heavily on travelling shows and fit-ups to arrive in town and provide them with a film show or concert for a little bit of entertainment. In 1946, a group of eight, energetic young men, began an enterprise which resulted in the Emer Cinema and Ballroom being built and operated successfully for a number of years. John Cashman, from near Kilbrin in North Cork, was the founder of this Group and was an avid film maker during the 1940’s and 50’s. He used a Swiss made Bolex Paillard cine camera and 16mm black and white film initially until the mid-1950’s, gradually changing to colour film as it became available. At this time 16mm film was very expensive to buy, costing £2/10s (€3.17) for about two minutes running time. Therefore, a twenty-minute film would be quite costly. He made a black and white film of the 1947 All Ireland final between Cork and Kilkenny which was shown to the G.A.A. hierarchy when they were doing a tribute to the late great Christy Ring. In the mid-1950s, an all-Ireland film on afforestation was made by John. At the time, an organisation called “Trees for Ireland”, established in 1950, was advocating the nationwide planting of forests on a large scale both for a supply of home grown timber and as an amenity. It was largely made up of organisations such as the G.A.A., I.C.M.S.A, I.C.A, I.N.T.O and Macra. The objective was to create an informed public opinion on the importance of trees. They published many booklets, pamphlets and some films promoting the cause of afforestation. John Cashman’s much acclaimed promotional film ran for about 30 minutes and was seen and highly praised by Sean McBride, ex Minister for External Affairs and Clann na Poblachta T.D. This particular film went on to win a Film Institute of Ireland award. Many, now defunct, old time farming methods were also filmed. Several highly successful, prize-winning films made for the Regional Game Council followed. Next to come was a series on Field Sports followed by a promotional film for Cork Polio, which was used on a fund-raising tour of the country. He went on to make several films of the local An Tóstal celebrations and the annual Sports meetings in Blarney during the 1950’s. John was one of a number of individuals making films around the country trying to capture life and the old ways before the emerging modern world overwhelmed the Ireland they knew. Initially the Group bought some second-hand 16mm film projectors and portable screens in Dublin. An old van, which incidentally cost them quite a lot in constant repairs, was then bought and they toured around the county to places such as, Courtmacsherry, Timoleague, Enniskeane in West Cork, Glanworth, Kildorrery and Kanturk in North Cork, Whitgate, Castlemartyr and Killeagh in East Cork, showing films to the local communities in the small local village halls. Even though the crowds were not always great, they had made enough money by 1949 to replace their old projectors, which by now were showing signs of wear and tear, with new ones and to also update the van. In 1949, they became aware of a remarkable documentary film titled King of Spades, which had been made by Ken Fitzgerald-Smith in the late 1930’s, depicting the life and times of the Monard Shovel Mills and its community. This contained much footage of local people working and enjoying themselves. The Group decided that this particular film, having much local content, would be of interest to the people of Blarney and they decided to show it here. The Kelleher girls, Nora and Maura, from Rathpeacon who were shown step-dancing in the film, were good friends with the Group and were also involved with several local organisations, volunteered to approach the Trustees of the Total Abstinence Hall in Blarney, on the Group’s behalf, for permission to show the film. At the time the T.A. Hall committee had a ban in force on film shows unless they were of an educational or cultural interest, but, after consultation with the Parish Priest, Canon Patrick Sheehan, who eventually gave permission for the film to be shown, the Group was granted the use of the Hall. The Canon also made it absolutely clear that it would be only for this one time and no other films were to be shown with it on the night. On the day before the film was to be shown, permission was revoked without an explanation, and the showing of King of Spades was cancelled. On hearing this, the Group’s spokesman, John Cashman, declared: “Look, if it’s the last thing we will do, we will go and build our own hall in Blarney!” So, the idea was born and they approached a number of local land-owners around the village looking for a site to build their new hall on. Heaphys builders, and Fitzpatricks Kanturk, both had possible sites where the Blarney Park Hotel and Joe O’Reilly’s Travel Shop respectively were once built, but for various reasons they were unable to sell to them at the time. Blarney Castle Estate was then approached and after much indecision, a site located at the junction of the Tower Road and High Road, where the British Legion Hall was once located, was offered on condition that only films would be shown there but no dancing. This was unacceptable to the Group as they felt for the amount of money involved in setting up the venture, a dancing restriction would prevent a better return. There was also a possibility of an accident occurring as parking there was very limited. An advertisement was put in the Cork Examiner looking for land and this is turn produced three replies. One was from Killeens, another was from Waterloo and the third was from Blarney. They went for the Blarney offer from a Mr. Tom O’Sullivan, who lived in the last house on the Waterloo Road, right next to where the hall was eventually built. It was for a small parcel of land and after an engineer’s report was accepted, they eventually bought it for the sum of £175 (€222.20), which they reckoned was quite a lot for the time, in March 1950. They got their engineer friend to draw up plans for the building and once permission was obtained, they then set about levelling the hilly site by hand using only picks and shovels. They had no machinery of any description and literally dug out a great many tons of earth, removing the roadside ditch and levelling the building area. A friend of theirs, who owned a lorry, drew the soil away to a site further up the Waterloo Road and also to a site on the Station Road. They approached another friend of theirs, this time a bank manager, who gave them a loan of £500 (€634.87) which they thought would be sufficient to complete the building. However, when this money was all spent, they found they still did not have it finished and had to make another approach to their bank manager friend, this time for a further £300 (€380.92). He was very reticent to part with any more money for their scheme until they disclosed that they knew he had just bought a new car and was very worried about leaving it parked on the side of the street every night. They just happened to own a double garage on the same street and offered him the use of half of it, rent free, if he could see his way to extend their loan. He put his car in and they got their money!!!! However, this still was not enough and they had to spend a further £200 (€253.95), earned from the travelling film shows, to complete it. All of the Group were themselves working full time and came out to Blarney to work on the construction site late into each evening, but, also had to rely quite a lot on direct labour or favours from friends to complete the actual building of the hall. When the building was completed and prior to opening, a name had to be found for the hall. They all agreed that they would like to keep an Irish flavour to it and not to go with any modern or fancy names. After much discussion, they settled on the name – “Emer”. After six months of solid work from the time they purchased the site they eventually had their opening night on Saturday 30th September 1950. This was not open to the general public but rather a special “thank you” night for all the friends who had helped them during the building. They showed the John Ford 1941, Oscar winning film “How Green was my Valley”, a Welsh mining village melodrama, starring Walter Pidgeon and Maureen O’Hara as the very first film and were delighted with the response from their invited guests. The Emer opened to the general public on the following night, Sunday 1st October, with a “Grand Dance” from 8 to 11 p.m. The music was by “Des Mularky and his Band” and the admission was 2/6 (10c) including tax.

The above excerpt was taken from a much larger article titled ‘The Emer Cinema and Ballroom” by Brian Gabriel, which appeared in Issue 7 of the ‘Old Blarney’ Journal. A limited number of ‘Old Blarney’ back issues are still available by contacting 087 2153216, bg1@eircom.net  or www.blarneyhistory.ie

Blarney and District Historical Society announces the postponement of the proposed Field Trip on 17th May 2018. To take its place the latest edition of ‘Old Blarney’ Journal, Issue 11 will be launched on Wednesday 23rd May 2018 in the Blarney Castle Hotel at 8pm All Welcome. Please note day and date change.

Community, Historical