Centenary commemorations of 1926 Dromcollogher cinema fire confirmed for September

MINISTER FOR CULTURE Patrick O’Donovan has announced that centenary commemorations for the 1926 Dromcollogher cinema fire in Limerick will take place later this year. 

O’Donovan has today announced the establishment of a working group to plan the events, with the main State-led event expected to take place on 5 September. 

It is understood that President Catherine Connolly has been asked to lead the commemoration. 

As part of the commemorations, a commemorative stamp will be issued by An Post in September, while the National Archives of Ireland will run an exhibition in Dromcollogher community hall for a month.

Some 48 people lost their lives in the Dromcollogher cinema fire of 1926, around one-tenth of the town’s population.

On the night of the fire, 150 men, women and children were in the local hall that was being used as a temporary cinema. They had gathered to see local man, ‘Babe’ Forde’s film show.

Just before 10 pm, a candle fell on the highly flammable film reels, and a fire spread rapidly, engulfing the entire building within 15 minutes.

Of the 48 who lost their lives, 17 were children.

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Following the fire, ‘Babe’ Forde, the property owner Patrick Brennan and Patrick Downing, the projectionist on the night were all charged with manslaughter but their cases ultimately did not proceed.

According to local historian Liam Irwin, Brennan lived on in Dromcollogher and was “shown no animosity”.

Downing returned to Cork where he died in the 1950s and Forde emigrated to Australia where he worked as a rabbit exterminator in the outback.

He died three years after the fire, after he mistakenly used arsenic powder for poisoning rabbits as baking soda while making bread. 

Minister O’Donovan said the community in Dromcollogher has “never forgotten the tragic events of 100 years ago in which so many of their relatives, friends and neighbours perished”.

The Limerick TD said his department will work closely with the people of Dromcollogher to ensure that there is a “meaningful, appropriate and respectful” programme to mark this event. 

Gerry Keyes, chairman of the Dromcollogher 26 Group, said a significant formal commemoration in Dromcollogher in September 2026 will be the shared goal of those involved in the commemoration. 

Keyes said it is a central part of how Dromcollogher 26 wants to honour the memory of the 48 people who died in the Dromcollogher cinema disaster.

The working group will be established by Minister O’Donovan in the coming weeks.

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