The Adelphi Cinema on Middle Abbet Street opened in January 1939 with a showing of The Adventures of Robin Hood, starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland. Built on the site of the old Plaza ballroom, the cinema had over 2300 seats and proved incredibly popular with Dublin movie goers. In addition to this, it played host to many stars during visits to Dublin - Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman and John Wayne all visited the Adelphi.
Like a lot of other cinemas, it also operated as a music venue. Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, the Rolling Stones and the Beach Boys were among those who played concerts there in the 1960s. Most famously though the Beatles' only Irish gig took place at the Adelphi in November 1963. Their appearance prompted a near riot, and they had to be smuggled out of the venue in an Irish Independent newspaper van.
Although the cinema was subdivided into four screens by 1973, it declined throughout the 1980s and finally closed in 1995 - the last show being a screening of High Society. It's now part of the Arnotts store.
References:
Left: G.A. Duncan
Jim Keenan, Dublin Cinemas: A Pictorial Selection
Tomorrow: The Pillar
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