Magic Lanterns Panorama (Hardcover)

This is the first history of projected screen practices in Ireland. Divided into three parts, the first section focuses on precinema screening practices in Ireland from the 17th to the late 19th centuries, most especially the magic lantern and the panorama. Part 2 traces commercial cinema distribution and exhibition as a major cultural and business activity from its beginnings to the present. It provides not just a history of cinema buildings and cinema-going in Ireland, north and south, but offers a profile of an important business sector within Ireland, including outlining the careers of major Irish film entertainment families as well as discussing the role of international film investors in the country. Part 3 details non-commercial exhibition practices, especially that of the secular Irish Film Society and the (Catholic) National Film Institute of Ireland, as well as the histories of Irish film festivals. Appendices identify all locations where cinemas exist(ed) in the country, and