New tourist attraction for Dublin city centre to be operated by Carroll's Irish Gifts
Seán McCárthaigh
A new tourist attraction for Dublin city centre is to be operated by the Carroll’s Irish Gifts chain.
The experience, which aims to give visitors an interactive experience of key events in modern Irish history, has been granted planning permission.
Dublin City Council has approved a planning application by the company, which runs the well-known souvenir stores, for an “immersive and interactive film experience” at its existing outlet on Talbot Street in Dublin.
The new tourist attraction – which will be known as “The Masterpiece Immersive Experience” – will cover an area of over 1,500m² and will require a reconfiguration of the existing three-storey building to provide immersive 3D rooms and gallery/exhibition areas.
Visitors will be guided by a projectionist to key events in modern Irish history, starting from a tram ride which transports them back to Ireland in the early 20th century and journeying through Dublin during seminal moments like the Easter Rising and the War of Independence.
Using the latest audio-visual and interactive technology, visitors will participate in a series of engaging tasks and missions in what the company claims “blends fun and mischief, while immersing the visitor in the formative years of world film and our nation.”
Carroll’s Irish Gifts claims the site has historical significance as it was the location of the landmark Masterpiece Picture Theatre.
The cinema was bombed by the 1RA in 1925 as part of a series of attacks on picture-houses in Dublin because of plans to show a movie about World War I.
Council planners strongly welcomed the reactivation of the traditional shopfront at 100 Talbot Street which will become the main entrance to the visitor attraction.
They claimed an art-deco cinema canopy planned for above the entrance was “visually striking.”
Dublin City Council said it welcomed “the refurbishment and reuse of this centrally located and historically significant and underused site which will contribute to and sustain the vitality of the inner city both by day and night.”
The council said it also had the potential to contribute to the enlivenment, vibration and regeneration of the Talbot Street area.
The Masterpiece Immersive Experience is expected to open from 10am to 10pm seven days a week.
Carroll’s Irish Gifts claims the project will lead to increased footfall in that part of the north inner city from visitors to the attraction which will result in benefits to other businesses and shops in the vicinity.
The company pointed out that it also supports national planning policy to make better use of under-utilised land and buildings and will add to the range of tourist attractions in the capital as well as to the city’s arts and culture infrastructure.
The promoters claim the adventure “combines fact and fiction by using seismic events in Irish history as the inspiration for an experience that belongs in the new digital age.”
Outlining the purpose of the proposed tourist attraction, the company said it would “bring alive the historical cinema scene of the Dublin of the early 20th century via an immersive experience, where every task and interaction the public take part in affects the final immersive film and the overall experience.”
“The visitors to the experience themselves will appear in the finale as extras and in cameo roles throughout the film,” it added.
However, it claimed the experience is an opportunity for visitors to role play and indulge in some “light-hearted ‘historical’ mischief making” rather than being considered a history lesson.
