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Author mourns passing of the Stella

Wednesday, 24 September 2008

SOUTHSIDE moviegoers who harboured hopes that their beloved Stella cinema in Rathmines would one day reopen for business are, it appears, to have their hopes dashed.
A recent planning application lodged with Dublin City Council seeks planning permission to construct a four-storey over basement building with a pedestrian entrance on the site of the grand old cinema.
One man who has fond and very special memories of the Stella and her sister cinema further down the Rathmines Road, the Princess, is author George Kearns.
George worked as an usher/doorman at the Princess and has written two books relating to Dublin cinemas – an ‘A to Z Of All Old Dublin Cinemas’ and ‘The Prinner’.
“The Stella’s demise is imminent, just like that of the Princess,” Mr Kearns said last week.
“The Princess, although not a blood relation, became a sister to the Stella when their directors decided to merge together the two most popular cinemas in the Rathmines area.”
Reflecting on the sad demise of the two regal and much attended cinemas Mr Kearns said: “The Princess, or ‘Prinner’ as most of her loyal subjects preferred to call her, took ill and closed on the night of July 2, 1960 as the Town Hall clock struck midnight and she never again played host to her patrons.
“She died in January of 1982 and her remains were laid to rest in a green field in Tallaght. Just like her sister, Stella took ill and closed her doors in the latter part of 2004 at the grand old age of 81 and for many years she rested and tried to regain her strength as her fans waited in vain for her recovery.”
Alas, this is not to happen and Mr Kearns has sadly acknowledged that any day soon the Stella is expected to succumb to her weakened condition and pass away in the same manner as the Princess.
“Fortunately, as a loyal doorman/usher to the beloved Princess, I have immortalised both her and her sister Stella forever,” he stated.
“My written record of the history of some old Dublin cinemas I have entitled ‘The Prinner’, in memory of my beloved Princess of Rathmines.”

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