The Ormond… 21 years gone, but not forgotten
One of Dublin’s most iconic clubbing venues, The Ormond Multimedia Centre, shut its doors for the last time 21 years ago today, 14 June 1997.
Over four years, the venue mirrored the transition of Dublin from a city with limited night-time options to one with nocturnal goings-on a plenty, as this footage from 1995 indicates.
Commenting on the last night, which saw the venue packed to the gills, one Boards.ie user summed it up perfectly: “Once I got going I couldn’t stop dancing. From what I can remember, Ken O’Flanagan and DJ Orbit were playing that night, along with a few others; there was well over a thousand people locked outside, and inside was rammed.
“The sweat was unbearable but an amazing night, and a fitting tribute to what was one of this country’s best ever clubs.”
It’s been shared a myriad of times on social media and YouTube, but this live recording of the club’s final night illustrates just what a majestically mental spot the place was.
In what seems somewhat remarkable today, given Ireland’s increasingly liberal culture, the venue allegedly lost its bar licence due to an unnamed police inspector objecting to the ‘venue hosting events for the gay community’.
As the Irish Independent reported in 1998, the inspector reportedly told the venue’s owners that “he wasn’t going to have anything like that going on on his patch”.
This explanation, however, was believed to be a smokescreen, with tax issues believed to be at play.
RIP The Ormond, from all who danced in thee… 🙂
[Kudos to dubgirl23 for the YouTube upload]
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It was an amazing space inside, bouncers were serious but fair, i do recall one bouncer that always made you feel welcome, cant recall his name but he was Black lad from Brooklyn, was always chatty and laughing.
It was a great space inside, the layout and decoration of the main dancefloor made it feel like a real Rave with the bar tucked away to the left separate. Bouncers were serious but fair, i do recall one bouncer that always made you feel welcome, think his name was Marcus, Black lad from Brooklyn, he was always chatting and laughing having the craic with everyone. But i did see his a few times when he needed to do his job turf someone out, no smile on his face!!