Member spotlight

Kilcullen Bridge Cinema

View from window outside the projection room in Kilcullen Town Hall

This month we’re delighted to highlight the success of one of the access CINEMA network’s newest sites – Kilcullen Bridge Cinema.

Located in the beautiful town of Kilcullen in Co Kildare, Kilcullen Bridge Cinema has been a real success since its foundation in 2023. It’s a great example of a community-led effort to bring cinema to enthusiastic cinema-goers – including arthouse fans and family audiences.

It’s a particularly apt time to highlight the club, as they have some fantastic Christmas classics screening this December. We wish them every luck with their Christmas films and upcoming seasons in 2025. Teresa Nurse and the Kilcullen Bridge Cinema team have kindly written up more details about the club and the history of cinema in the town.

Kilcullen Bridge Cinema (KBC) started in September 2023 with the aim of reviving cinema in the local community and having fun. The Town Hall and Heritage Centre where we show our films is situated in the heart of Kilcullen and enjoys a lovely setting with views across the river Liffey. 

There is a history of cinema associated with the Town Hall dating back to the late 1930s. During the 50s, 60s and early 70s it operated as a cinema with other live events including boxing tournaments, drama productions and live entertainment shows. Some members of the KBC team fondly recall crowded halls and boisterous cinema evenings. The film drawing the biggest audience was The Sound of Music; over 3,500 people attended in a two-week period. Rock around the Clock was seen by 2,000 people in one week and The Guns of Navarone drew 1,500 people, also in one week.  The last regular films were shown in 1976 and although a few attempts were made to bring film back, nothing lasted. The building became derelict until it underwent a major refurbishment in 1999 led by local entrepreneur and car dealer Pat Dunlea. His procurement of cream leather Volvo car seats for the auditorium was quite a coup, adding to the comfort of the venue which has tiered seating for 110 people.

 
1939 ad for the opening of the original Kilcullen Cinema

Starting a film club was often discussed, but where to begin? After attending an online presentation with Access Cinema the idea for KBC firmly took hold. We had a lovely venue, some basic equipment, willing volunteers, little expertise and no money. However, with the backing of Kilcullen Lions Club, and advice on programming and encouragement from the team at Access – in particular Michael Ryan – the group forged ahead and we opened our doors on September 27th. 

A year later we can say with certainty that cinema is firmly back on the social calendar in Kilcullen town. We had a great first year and have been delighted with the enthusiastic response to the project. Looking back over the last 14 months some of the highlights have been:

  • Opening night September 27th 2023 and a full house for The Fabelmans. Lots of reminiscing and a palpable sense of expectation. 
  • Our partnership with local bookshop Woodbine Books, who sell our cinema tickets. While we sell online through Eventbrite, some of our mature cinema goers and families like the hard copy.
  • Rise, October 11th 2023. Our first foreign language film. Small crowd but great energy.  
  • The Christmas films and the mulled wine.
  • All the children’s movies, such as Home Alone and ET, which sell out every time.
  • Brigid 1500 Film Season, February 2024. We signed up to the Brigid 1500 project with Kildare County Council and screened a series of films across the month of February to celebrate the legacy of St Brigid and the values she represented. The films included Herself, Róise and Frank, Song of the Sea, Girl and La Syndicaliste
  • Cheltenham Week movie March 11th and the cheers at Dream Horse.
  • Refit and upgrade of the cinema in May. The money we received from our participation in the Brigid 1500 event was used to part-fund the purchase of new speakers, woofers, amplifier and projector. A team of volunteers worked tirelessly to install the equipment, with particular mention to Barry Gwynee, who travelled all the way from his home in Shropshire, England to lend his valuable expertise and skills. 
  • Culture Night, September 20th and the concert movie Stop Making Sense
  • Receiving a Community Arts Award at a special ceremony on November 6th from Kilcullen Community Action group. We were thrilled to be recognised alongside so many others who work to enhance life in the community.  
Kilcullen Cinema refit

More than anything the most enjoyable part of our cinema project has been making new friends and the many chats before and after the movies. We enjoy welcoming new people to the Town Hall and observing their surprise and delight at the lovely space that exists beyond the blue gates which they have walked by so many times. 

As we progress through our second year, we are beginning to find our identity as a film group. Our remit is probably broader than most as we try to reach as many people in the community as possible and get them back into the cinema. We show one to three movies a month including foreign language, mainstream and family. Our best attended film this season was That They May Face the Rising Sun; the best received was Rose; and the one that generated the most discussion was Kneecap. Our Halloween family movie Hocus Pocus was hugely popular and a sell-out.

In December we are showing two classic Christmas movies – The Polar Express on Sunday December 8th and Michael Curtiz’s White Christmas on December 18th. We publicise our events with posters, through local media and social media (find us on Instagram at @killcullenbridgecinema), We are particularly grateful for the support of local journalist Brian Byrne, who promotes all our activities on his online diary which has a very broad reach. 

We are excited for 2025 and the year ahead. We have lots of plans that include another February film season, The Spirit of Brigid, in association with Kildare County Council. There are ideas for a movie marathon in response to requests from our younger film fans. We also look forward to taking part in some of the initiatives that access CINEMA facilitate, such as the Bealtaine Festival and other curated programmes.

The KBC team receiving Community Art Award, November 6th 2024

Kilcullen Bridge Cinema

Town Hall

Kilcullen

Co. Kildare

Kilcullen Bridge Cinema Instagram page

Kilcullen Bridge Cinema Eventbrite page

Member spotlight archive

August 2024 – Garter Lane Arts Centre, Waterford

September 2024 – My Little Film Club, Dublin 4

October 2024 – Esker Arts Centre / Eagla Fest, Tullamore

November 2024 – Sligo Film Society, Sligo