Site of the former Capitol Cinema, The Capitol Building, Grand Parade.

The Capitol Cinema on Grand Parade opened on April 5th, 1947. It was a large cinema that in its first incarnation seated up to 1,300 people. It was the main Cork City centre film screening amenity showing the latest in contemporary cinema for decades but, like many cinemas, grew challenged by more modern times in how people chose to watch films. It sadly closed in 2005 to make way for the Capitol Building you see at this location today.

Tony Palmer’s documentary on Rory Gallagher’s tour of Ireland premiered at the 19th annual Cork International Film Festival at the surprisingly early time of 10:30am on June 10th, 1974, at the Capitol Cinema. The film includes many moments of Rory Gallagher’s life in Cork city and wonderful footage of the city and concert footage of Cork City Hall and its audience when Rory played there.

The documentary filmmaker met Rory when he was filming Cream’s farewell concert at the Royal Albert Hall, London, England in 1968. Rory’s band Taste were the support band for Cream at the show. Tony went backstage after Taste’s set, introduced himself to Rory and told him how remarkable his playing was. The two agreed to keep in touch, and in late ’73 when Rory decided to film his upcoming Christmas shows in the south and the north of Ireland, he requested Tony Palmer for the job. Intrigued by the idea of filming on both sides of the border, despite the dangers involved in those turbulent days of ‘The Troubles’, Tony Palmer was keen to make the most of the opportunity.

Rory’s decision to play in the North was however, not a political statement but a musical one; as he says in the documentary:

“In an Irish tour, I always try to include Belfast and the North of Ireland. After all, I lived there for a while and I learned a lot playing in the clubs there, so I’ve a sort of home feeling for the place.”

Rory’s tour of Ireland at that time had its anxious moments. Prior to his show at the Ulster Hall in Belfast, ten bombs went off at various locations around the city and many thought he would cancel.

Despite the potential threats of violence, the shows went on and were a unifying success where people from both sides of a divided community and identity came together peacefully, without prejudice, to share in their love for Rory Gallagher’s music.

The documentary film was one of Ireland’s entries in the Features section of the 1974 Cork International Film Festival. Rory attended the first screening of the film and met the press afterwards at a reception at the Savoy Cinema where he was presented with a Golden Disc in recognition of selling 250,000 copies of his album, Live in Europe.

Another film being screened at the Savoy later that evening was the U.S. entry, ‘Blazing Saddles’. Rory and his brother Donal were huge fans of this Mel Brooks comedy, so much so that when Rory’s film ‘Irish Tour ’74’ premiered at the Cork Film Festival, Rory nominated ‘Blazing Saddles’ to be screened also!

Rory was an avid moviegoer and was seen often on the streets of Cork on his way to the local movie houses, such as the Palace or Capitol Cinemas, going there when he was home with some spare time between tours.

In 2024, Cork International Film Festival celebrated the 50th anniversary of the film with a special screening at The Everyman to a full house of Rory Gallagher fans. It also introduced Rory and the documentary to a new, younger generation of music and film fans.

Watch the official trailer for ‘Irish Tour ‘74’: The Official Trailer-Rory Gallagher Irish Tour '74

Cork International Film Festival is Ireland’s largest and longest running film festival and will present its milestone 70th edition across multiple venues in Cork from Thursday 6th to Sunday 16th November 2025. More information, including the Festival film and event programme, year-round outreach activities and CIFF Digital Archive is available at corkfilmfest.org