Laois cinema that featured in Hollywood movie up for sale

The landmark Savoy Cinema in Portarlington which is adorned with a mural marking the Laois Offaly town's link to the hit movie Into the West is on the market.

Matt Dunne is the auctioneer handling the sale of the property, which is on the market for €300,000. 

The Portarlington estate agent describes this as "a rare opportunity" to refurbish a landmark building in the Market Square of this historic Huguenot town.

The former cinema is described as an imposing three-storey 4,000 sq ft building with potential for retail plus residential overhead, or to remodel for the "theatre world". Mr Dunne adds that the entire building has recently been reroofed at "enormous expense".

He says it is located on the Market Square, for which extensive regeneration plans are in place. The nearby Market House is being renovated for public use.

To entice potential buyers, the auctioneer says Portarlington is one of Ireland's fastest growing towns with a great train service to and from Dublin. 

Laois County Council has backed public calls for it to be returned to some use as part of the preparation of the 2030 Portarlington Regeneration Strategy. MORE BELOW PICTURE.

"This Old Savoy Cinema is in private ownership; however, Laois County Council is in support of its redevelopment subject to proper planning and sustainable development and an appropriate use being proposed for it. This would add great benefit to the Market Square and align with plans by Laois County Council for the Market House," wrote the then CEO John Mulholland.

The Strategy proposes to remake the Market Square as a place which is usable as a public amenity and event space.

Port Art Collective have carried out a feasibility study on the old Savoy Cinema in Portarlington, to gauge its use as an Arts centre. 

Chairperson Mark Garvin told the Leinster Express / Laois Live in 2024 that it presents a unique opportunity.

“It’s not that we are looking to open an arts centre and eventually build up groups- Portarlington has the groups, we just want to give them a home. 

“This is a unique opportunity to give a new lease of life to a building with deep ties in our community. The building itself is beautiful and is perfectly situated,” he said.

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Their plan would see the transformation of the old cinema into an ambitious three-floor arts centre similar to the Dunamaise Arts Centre in Portlaoise.

The Savoy Cinema in Portarlington first opened in 1945 but closed in 1989. While it was subsequently taken over by a new operator and re-opened in August 1990  it closed its doors for the final time in the mid-1990s.

The Irish-produced film Into the West, starring Gabriel Byrne, Colm Meaney and Ellen Birkin, was partly filmed on location in the Savoy Cinema and at nearby Lea Castle in 1992. It told the story of two Traveller boys, Ossie and Tito and their epic adventures across Ireland with their horse Tír na nÓg. MORE BELOW TRAILER.

A memorable scene, filmed in the Savoy, featured Ossie and Tito bringing their horse to a cinema matinee.

The mural on the building was created by the local resident and street artist ADW on the façade of old cinema to mark the link with Into the West. ADW’s mural was launched in 2019 as part of a Laois-wide celebration of Cruinniú na nÓg.

The artists described the front of the building as being in "terrible condition" with two days needed to prepare the walls for the main image. New SAVOY letters were also cut and installed.