The Dromcollogher Cinema Disaster Online Archive

The fifth of September 2026 marks the centenary of one of the most tragic events to ever have occurred in Ireland since the foundation of the State.

On the evening of that date in 1926 a large gathering of the people of the village of Dromcollogher and its vicinity in County Limerick, young and old, took their seats in a makeshift cinema in the upstairs portion of a local hall to enjoy the screening of some films.

What followed shortly thereafter would cause total devastation in the village and beyond, as forty-eight people lost their lives in a deadly conflagration.

As part of the centenary commemoration of this awful event Limerick City & County Library presents The Dromcollogher Cinema Disaster Online Archive. This website presents a number of features, based on materials in the library’s archive and local studies collections.

B&W images: Irish Independent (Courtesy of National Library of Ireland)

These eighty-four seconds of footage is the only film that we know of, depicting the aftermath of the fire.
The footage features scenes of the completely destroyed hall, and still-smouldering materials to the rear of the building, and scenes from the grave site, where the coffins await interment as distraught family members and neighbours mill about. (Gaumont Graphic Newsreel / Reuters Connect)

The Disaster in the National Press

A disaster of such scale naturally caused huge public interest across the nation, and the national press sent reporters to Dromcollogher to provide on the spot accounts of what was happening.

Limerick Library Service has a volume of the issues of The Irish Independent and The Irish Times that were published during the month after the fire. This volume has been scanned in full, and here we present all of the cuttings from these newspapers that are relevant to the disaster.

Dromcollogher – A Limerick village in 1926

Here we feature some background and historical context about Dromcollogher – what was the village like at the time of the disaster? What is the general history of the village up to that point in time?

The National Relief Fund Subscribers database and newspaper cuttings

A relief fund committee was set up immediately after the disaster by the government at the initiative of William T. Cosgrave, President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State, who announced its membership on Thursday 9 September.

The response to the appeal was immediate, extensive and generous. Donations poured in from all parts of Ireland, north and south, the UK, Europe and North America. They came from businesses, companies and individuals. Amounts contributed ranged from an astonishing £500 (more than £30,000 in today’s terms) by the Guinness company to tiny but no doubt sacrificially given contributions of a few pence from anonymous children. Here we present a database of all contributions recorded in the Relief Fund notices published in The Irish Times & Irish Independent.

Prof. Liam Irwin’s definitive essay, The Calamitous Burning: The Dromcollogher Disaster of 1926

Now retired Professor of history at Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, Liam Irwin, wrote articles about the Dromcollogher disaster for a local history journal and for the booklet of the commemoration of the 80th anniversary, both in 2006. However, several years later he wrote what has come to be regarded as the definitive account of the disaster and its aftermath, which was published in the pages of the renowned history periodical, North Munster Antiquarian Journal in 2013. The original, lengthy account is available from the journals section of the library’s local studies site, and here we present a slightly edited version.

National Archives Dromcollogher files

We are very pleased to be able to present here materials kindly provided to us by the National Archives of Ireland.

Most of these items relate to the operation of the Relief Fund which was set up by then leader of the Irish Free State, William T. Cosgrave. Among the materials are minutes of some meetings of the Trustees of the Dromcollogher Relief Fund, messages of condolences received, and letters accompanying financial contributions to the fund.

The Limerick Local Studies file on Dromcollogher

Over a number of years our local studies department has maintained files on many Limerick-related topics. Here we present the contents of the local studies file on Dromcollogher as relates to the fire disaster.

The Dromcollogher Memorial Library Archive

In 1953 a structure, unique for its time – circular with flat roof and tall narrow windows – was opened as Dromcollogher Memorial Library.

We present here materials from the ‘Dromcollogher Library’ file, which provide a series of snapshots of the process, from the committee’s offer of the site to the County Council in 1950, through to the library’s official opening in May 1953.