Iveagh Cinema, Huntly Road, Banbridge, Co Down, BT32 3BS

Iveagh Cinema, Huntly Road, Banbridge

The Iveagh Cinema was a large, free-standing, single-screen cinema built in 1955 and located to the south-west of Huntly Road, to the north-west of Banbridge town centre. It was constructed by Mr J. Finney, who had previously owned another cinema in Banbridge. The cinema opened for business in December 1955, with 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes' as its first main attraction. The property was sold to Abbey Films of Dublin in 1965 and closed in early 2001. The building was demolished around 2003 and replaced with a housing development.

The cinema featured an angular, modernist façade typical of the 1950s era. The front elevation faced roughly east and was symmetrical, divided into three flat-topped bays. The central bay was larger and faced in cream-coloured faience, with recessed outer bays in brown brick featuring simple modernist panels. Each bay had narrow moulded concrete edging.

At ground floor level of the central bay was a broad central deep recess flanked by smaller recesses. Within the central recess was a long door screen consisting of three sets of glazed double doors framed in varnished timber, with similar double doors in each flanking recess. Directly above the entrance recesses was a flat projecting canopy with curved ends. The underside of the canopy was plain rendered with a series of lights, and the front edge was faced in plastic where letters displaying film names were placed, with the edge itself presumably internally illuminated. Above the canopy was a long window band with plain raised moulded concrete surround and ten-pane metal frame. The name 'Iveagh'—named after the barony—was displayed in large raised lettering with serifs above this.

The other bays were faced in brown brick with whitened mortar. Above ground level to each bay was a pilaster of four square cast concrete panels with simple modernist appearance. At ground floor level to each bay was a large timber and glazed display panel for film posters.

The south elevation had a plain functional appearance, finished in plain painted render with projecting structural piers. Roughly to the centre were three plain projections containing toilets and services. That to the left was long and single-storey with a flat roof, with a deep recess on its south face containing a plain sheeted double door. The projection to the right of this was taller and also flat-roofed, with a plain sheeted door at ground level on the west face and a high-level window with security bars on the south face. To the right again was a much lower section with a lean-to roof leaning against the main building, with a plain sheeted door to its south face. Above it stood a tall, square rendered chimneystack, which finished above the eaves line of the main building. To the right of these projections, on the main building, was a window. At the right end of the south elevation was a tall flat-roofed, plain rendered bay rising above the main eaves line, which was actually the south face of the south outer front bay. At ground floor of this bay was a row of three small square single-pane windows with moulded concrete surrounds.

The north elevation was similar in character to the south elevation but with only one projection to the right of centre. This was single-storey with four boarded-up windows to its north face, one to the east and one to the west. To the immediate right of this projection was a double door with thick projecting surround. To the far left of the elevation were four windows of varying size, with the tall flat-roofed end bay to the left again, featuring a row of windows at second-floor level.

The west elevation was a large shallow gable, finished similarly to the north and south elevations but with no openings or projections.

The flat sections of the roof were covered in asphalt, with the much larger gabled portion in corrugated asbestos cement sheeting. Metal rainwater goods were installed. A tree and shrub 'island' stood to the front of the forecourt.

At the time of its closure in March 2001, the manageress, who had been employed since the cinema opened, stated that it was the only surviving single-screen cinema in Northern Ireland. The building was practically unaltered, retaining all of its original fixtures and fittings.