Tinteán

A Call for Stories by Dr Martin Walsh FRHistS

On the night of Sunday 5 September 1926, a fire ripped through a makeshift cinema in the
town of Dromcollogher, county Limerick. At the time of the performance, there were about
150 people in attendance. With only one exit out of the building, many people struggled to
escape. Despite heroic efforts to rescue those trapped inside forty-eight people died. Many
more were injured. The youngest victim was James Kenny aged seven and the oldest was
Mary Turner aged sixty-eight. To put the loss of life in context, the town’s population prior to
the fire was about 500 people. Ten per cent of the population died in the fire. Almost
everybody in the town was connected through marriage and familial bonds. In one case an
entire family was lost: Jeremiah Buckley, his wife Ellen, and their daughter Bridget died. Nora
Kirwan, a servant working for the Buckley family also died in the fire as did Jermiah’s sister-
in-law Kate Wall.

In a small rural town still recovering from the effects of the Anglo-Irish War of Independence
and Civil War the loss of life was unfathomable and the consequences for the community was
felt far and wide. In the history of disasters which would befall Ireland in the subsequent
decades only the Cavan orphanage fire of 1943 and the Stardust fire of 1981 are comparable.
Over the years much has been written about the fire, the cinema enquiry and the court case
which ultimately saw no one charge for the events of that night. What has not been looked at
is the emotional trauma of that night on the people of Dromcollogher, Ireland and the Irish
diaspora.
Ahead of the 100th anniversary of the fire, I am currently working on a project, funded by the
Royal Irish Academy, that is looking at how the people of the town, Ireland and the Irish
diaspora dealt with the emotional trauma of that night with a view to book publication. I am
hoping the public can help me unearth private family-held letters to and from Ireland and
diaries that discuss the events of that night as part of this research. I would also love to talk to
people who have connections to those that died in the fire or those that survived that awful
night.

Any help you can give is gratefully appreciated and I can be contacted on
tmartinwalsh@gmail.com .

Dr Martin Walsh FRHistS

Martin is the current Project Officer for the Oral History Project at the University of Limerick. He is the author of two books: A biography of Jesuit Richard Devane published in 2019, and an Oral History of the University of Limerick published in 2023. He is the Web Officer for the Women’s History Association of Ireland and Co-Treasurer of the Irish Association of Professional Historians. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. Martin’s current project is focused on the emotional trauma of the 1926 Dromcollogher Cinema Fire on the people of the town, the people of Ireland and the Irish Diaspora, and is funded by the Royal Irish Academy.