Gaiety Theatre

The Gaiety closed in the early-1970s and reopened as the Aherlow Film Theatre on 14 January 1973. Plans to convert the theatre to a supermarket in 1976 came to nothing. Sadly the building, part of the old Town Hall complex, was gutted by fire on 3 January 1978 which marked the end for films. There is, however, a record of Sleeping Beauty having been staged there in 1986. Part of the Tower Ballroom and also the Excel cinema, which had recently reopened, were also damaged in the fire. The auditorium may have been the same one where the Picturedrome was based, having moved to the Town hall complex after a fire at its James Street premises.