Status : Closed 2004
Dwarfed by tall buildings on either side stands the small but cosy Kitchen Bar, founded in 1859 by Michael Conlon, who handed it down to his son, James. He handed it down to his son, also called James, and he was the owner until a few years ago. So, for 130 years it remained in the same family. Prior to being a pub it was a boarding-house for young girls brought in from the country by Robbs, the former department store in High Street. In the good old days of music hall, the pub’s next door neighbour across tiny Telfair Street was the much-lamented Empire. Nobody knows how old the music tradition of Belfast is. In the Library at Harvard University, there is a playbill advertising performances in 1750 by the Royal Company of Comedians at the Vaults in Ann Street. All variety shows in those days were provided by the tavern keepers of the town. In many ways, the clock has turned full circle. Where Littlewoods now stands, in 1860 stood the Imperial Colosseum. In 1879 it became Travers Musical Lounge. By 1881 it was renamed The Buffalo. Here you paid two old pence to get in, and you got a bottle of stout free into the bargain. Even this didn’t help to fill the theatre, so it closed. It was a Dublin family, the Findlaters, in 1894, who rebuilt it and modernised it and gave it its lasting name of The Empire for the remainder of its days.
Rich in the memories of artists are memorable shows that have planted the theatre deep in the affection of the public it served. Some of the great stars who have graced the old Empire stage include household names of their day, like Little Tich, the Karno Troupe – which included Stan Laurel, of Laurel and Hardy fame. In this year, 1990, we celebrate the centenary of his birth. In the week commencing 5th October 1906, none other than Charlie Chaplin appeared here (seemingly, he lodged in a house at 26 Joy Street). Other stars included G.H. Elliott (the Chocolate-Coloured Coon), Eugene Stratton, the infamous Lily Langtry, Marie Lloyd, Harry Lauder, Will Fyffe, Flanagan and Allen, George Formby, Rob Wilton and others too numerous to mention. From its stage, in 1937, the first theatre broadcast in Ireland took place.
In its long history, the theatre was only closed for one night, and that was during the Second World War, after an air raid had cut the electricity cable to the theatre. It re-opened the following night to a meagre audience of 10. Ironically enough, when the notices went up for final closure on 3rd June 1961, the place was packed in the final weeks. The Irish have long been noted for attending wakes, but the closing of The Empire was a tragic wake, and should never have been allowed to happen by our City Fathers.
It was here in The Kitchen Bar that the singers, the clowns, the comedians, the actors and the chorus girls all came to quench their thirst during the interval. Patrick Catney, the present owner (former owner of the Liverpool Bar) can produce a box of photos, most of them personally signed by the various artistes who trod the old Empire stage. Most of them are long dead and forgotten, but their ghosts still seem to haunt this old pub. Around the walls can be seen various posters, including one of The Stella Maris Players, with Joe Tomelty and his mother-in-law Min Milligan. Another one shows Harry Randall in “Hello ’50”, and the poster for the Final Week, “Adieu – Farewell”, starring Billy Danvers, The Alexander Brothers (still going strong today), Ballet Montmartre, Tommy Moran, and top of the bill, ‘The Girl from Donegal’ – Bridie Gallagher. There are also black and white signed photos of George H. Elliott, J.G. Devlin, Jimmy Logan, Ruby Murray (Local Girl, and the only recording artist in the world to have 5 hits in the Top Twenty all at the same time). Also to be seen is a very fine line drawing of the old Empire, and the Kitchen Bar by local man Joe O’Kane. When the Empire closed down, the little Kitchen Bar was left alone, but the big stores and office blocks came to Victoria Square and the Kitchen survived. Today, it’s a very busy little bar, and I’ve just discovered that former Empire aficionados still gather here to chat about the heyday of one of Belfast’s greatest and most homely theatres. Plans are well advanced to build a new lounge bar at the rear of the premises, and to turn it into a shrine to the old Empire. Patrick Catney is busy gathering together photos, posters, and mementos to adorn the walls of his new ‘Parlour’!
Across the road is Ross’s Court, a new shopping complex replacing the old Central Arcade. This place has a long history of commercial success, based on Northern Ireland’s soft drink history. The old Ross family business sign can still be seen above one of the entrances to the Court, for here their factory was based, and their famous spring water well that was in operation as far back as 1735. The great names of those early soft drink entrepreneurs are still household names today, names like Sir Henry Cochrane, Dr. T.J. Cantrell, William Corry and Adolphus Ross. But only Cantrell & Cochrane has survived, founded by Sir Henry Cochrane and Dr. Thomas Cantrell in Belfast, way back in 1868.