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The Tivoli Theatre was a great favourite with Dubliners where they were always sure of getting a great evenings entertainment. Originally named the Grand Lyric Hall it became the Lyric Theatre of Varieties in 1829.

The Theatre closed in August 1901 and reopened with 1,252 seats as the Tivoli Theatre in October of the same year. It was now equipped to show movies and from then on was a cine-variety Theatre. Unusually the projector was situated behind the screen.

Among those who appeared at the Tivoli were George Formby Senior, Albert Sharpe, Lucan & McShane and The Dixie Minstrels.

A strike in early 1924 closed the Tivoli but eventually the doors were opened once again. Also affected in this strike were the Queens Theatre and a number of cinemas.

The Theatre closed again in 1928 but continued to show cine-variety on Sunday nights for a short time. Eventually the final closure came in 1930 when the Theatre was acquired by the Irish Press newspaper group and so the end of an era had come.

This Theatre should not be confused with the Tivoli Cinema / Theatre in Francis Street, Dublin.

Text and Images Courtesy Des Kerins, whose mother and her aunt both worked in the Tivoli in the 1920's and said that it was a very happy place in which to work.