In 1922 the Press Censor ordered that a notice of censorship on all war films be served by hand on the owner/managers of Dublin cinemas by uniformed DMP Officers. When served, the DMP Officer had to file a signed return to his station’s superintendent stating that he had served this notice and to further state to whom he had handed it.

The DMP Officers were further charged that should they have any knowledge of a cinema not on the list of cinemas that came with the notices to each station, then the Press Officer should be immediately notified.

While a DMP Officer from the Irishtown station duly served the notice on Mr James F. O’Neill of 59a Serpentine Avenue the stated owner of the Assembly Picture Hall which was on the Press Officer’s list, a fellow officer from the Rathmines Station informed his superior officer that there were two cinemas on Serpentine Avenue, and here the mystery began.

We have made extensive enquiries and to date have not found one person from the Sandymount area who remembers or knows anything about the Assembly Picture Hall cinema. We cannot pin-point exactly where the Assembly Picture Hall stood, although all our findings are leaning towards 59a Serpentine Avenue. There is, however, definite proof of its existence on Serpentine Avenue, as there survives an advertisement from an evening newspaper paper of the time.

The Assembly Hall was owned by a Mr James F. O’Neill who also had an address at St Helen’s Avenue, Booterstown and we know for sure that this cinema existed between the years 1913 to 1923.

The other cinema referred to by the DMP Officer could only have been the ‘Shack’ situated at 78 Serpentine Avenue. The ‘Shack’ was the forerunner to the Sandymount ‘Astoria Cinema’ which later changed its name to the ‘Ritz’ which in time became the ‘Oscar’ cinema and theatre.

The building concerned still stands and now houses a Mosque. The ‘Shack’ was in effect a shed, where films were shown and we know that it was operating in 1919 in direct competition with the Assembly Picture Hall. On one occasion it offered its patrons an episode from the ‘Pearl White’ adventure series and a feature film entitled ‘Elmo the Mighty’, both of which were released in 1919.
James F. O’Neill also founded the ‘Astoria’ and the ‘Ritz’ Cinemas. While some may care to differ, we also have knowledge and records of the Whittle family and George Jay’s involvement with this cinema. As a matter of interest, the entertainment on Serpentine Avenue didn’t centre on cinemas alone, because there once stood a skating rink at number 3, owned and managed by Joseph Mason.

We would welcome contact with any relative of James F. O’Neill the founder of the Assembly Picture Hall and the Astoria/ Ritz cinema, and by really pushing our luck any relative of the owner of the original ‘Shack’ cinema.

We are in the process of compiling the history of all old Dublin cinemas which we hope to publish in book form. We are interested to hear about any cinema or venue that showed pictures from that historical 20th day of April 1896 when a moving picture was shown in the ‘Star of Erin’ Theatre, right up to any cinema that was built in the late sixties.

We would be very interested in any information NewsFour readers might have and maybe a copy of any old photos of cinemas or advertisements. Perhaps a reader might even have a story to tell about their local cinema.

The fact that we had in the past a skating rink and a second cinema in the Sandymount area, which nobody now appears to remember, is proof positive that a good part of our local history is dying with the older generation. We would suggest that anybody with details of our past history should take a little time and record this in writing and pass it on.

George Kearns has published a book on the history of the Princess Cinema, Rathmines, and some other Dublin cinemas. Copies at €25 are available by contacting him at 8345811. The book is a limited edition, A4 in size and consists of 200 pages and is available only on a first come, first served basis.

If you have any knowledge to impart on the mystery of the Assembly Picture Hall or history of Dublin cinemas please get in touch either through NewsFour, by telephoning George at 8345811 or by email number to cinelore@hotmail.com