Volta picture theatre Dublin

The Volta Cinema was Dublin‘s first movie theatre. It opened on December 20, 1909 at 45 Mary Street and is significant because James Joyce, Irish author of Ulysses and Finnegans Wake, was a partner in the venture at the age of 27.

In fact, cashing in on this revolutionary concept in entertainment was totally Joyce’s idea, though his partners owned other cinemas in Europe. Joyce was teaching English in Trieste at the time, struggling to write, and desperately in need of cash.

The Volta Cinema was very popular at first, but within nine months it began to lose money, possibly because Joyce had agreed to manage the project, yet remained in Trieste, already a slave to his embryonic muse. The partners sold the business at a loss.