ON THIS DAY in 1926, families and friends from Dromcollogher in Co Limerick and the surrounding areas packed into a temporary cinema hall to watch firstly False Alarm, a short film, and then the main feature of the evening, an American film called The Decoy.<\/p>\n
The cinema was a venture by a local entrepreneur, William \u2018Babe\u2019 Forde, who had organised the screening with the help of projectionist Patrick Downing.<\/p>\n
Around 150 people settled in for the screening upstairs in the hall. But tragedy struck when a candle\u2019s flame caught on the highly-flammable nitrate film. The room went up in flames rapidly and although many escaped through the exit and a window, both avenues ended up blocked.<\/p>\n
A total of 48 people perished as a result of the fire \u2013 46 at the scene and a further two deaths to follow later in the year. Bodies were identified by things like belt buckles, shoes, wedding rings.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Of the 48, 16 were children. The two youngest, James Kenny and Thomas Noonan, were seven years old. The oldest victim was 68-year-old Mary Turner.<\/p>\n
The parish priest rushed around the village of Dromcollogher and conducted a hasty census of sorts to determine who was missing, and who may have perished.<\/p>\n
The funerals of the 46 were held as a collective the following Tuesday.<\/p>\n
A State centenary commemoration for the 48 victims of the fire will be held this afternoon at St Bartholomew\u2019s Church in Dromcollogher. Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin and Culture Minister Patrick O\u2019Donovan will officiate the ceremony.<\/p>\n
Ahead of the ceremony, O\u2019Donovan wrote: \u201cHaving represented Dromcollogher for the last twenty-three years I am honoured to be the minister responsible for the commemoration.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is fitting that 100 years after the head of government came to west Limerick to pay his respects to the families, that the current head of government, an Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin, will make the same journey.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said it is \u201cdifficult to comprehend the fallout\u201d and the \u201cutter devastation\u201d in the area today.<\/p>\n
A book on the tragedy written by members of the local community will launch on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Historian Dr Martin Walsh, who lectures part-time at University of Limerick and is currently researching the event with the view to publish a book on the matter, spoke to The Journal about the fire and the people who died.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis happened three years after the civil war in Ireland had ended. We were supposed to be in a peaceful period, and the fact that people could go to the cinema and not come back from it is just horrific,\u201d Walsh said.\n<\/p>\n
\nIn terms of tragedies, the only one that comes close to it is Stardust<\/a>, which, coincidentally, 48 people also died that night.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The estimated population of the village at the time was around 500 people, and although not all 48 victims were from Dromcollogher, in effect, 10% of the village was wiped out.<\/p>\n
Walsh\u2019s grandmother was from Feohanagh in Co Limerick, a small village a few miles from Dromcollogher, and would have been the same age as one of the victims, 15-year-old Violet Irwin.<\/p>\n