The original Gaff (1821-1916)
The Gaff takes itʼs name from, and pays homage to, a popular playhouse which entertained the working people of Limerick for almost a hundred years.
The original Gaff was a small theatre located at Charlotte Quay, Limerick and opened by the Courtney family in September 1821. Know officially as ʻCourtneyʼs Theatreʼ and later ʻCourtneyʼs Harp Theatreʼ and ʻCourtneyʼs Showʼ, the building was soon christened ʻthe Gaffʼ by its patrons and was known by that name for nearly a hundred years. While the more elegant Theatre Royal in Henry St. presented opera, grand concerts and visiting theatre troupes, the Gaff offered a rotating programme of melodrama, variety shows and pantomimes all presented by a resident company. The venue was popular with locals from St. Maryʼs parish and Garryowen, as well as with soldiers from the four British Army barracks then situated in the city. Patrons of the Gaff were noted for their rowdiness and comic interjections. While melodramas like East Lynne and Murder At The Red Barn where mainstays of the company, Shakespeare was also popular. It was during a production of Richard III that the line, “A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse”, was greeted by a shout from the balcony, “would an ass do?” When the laughter subsided, the quick thinking Richard III responded with, “yes, will you please step onstage!”
The building was later managed by the Ferguson family who renamed it, ʻThe National Theatreʼ but this didnʼt stop the locals continuing to call it ʻthe Gaff.ʼ During this period Carrie Ferguson was the companyʼs popular leading lady while her male counterpart, Bert Deval became so renowned for his death scenes that whenever he died onstage, an encore was called for and he would be compelled to die all over again! The near hundred year reign of Limerickʼs most populist theatre came to an end in 1916 when the Gaff was converted into the Tivoli cinema. Locals soon christened it ʻthe Tivo.ʼ The Gaff was also the name of a music venue in the basement of the Cecil Hotel, in the early 1980s.
Mike Finn, Nov. 2016
Background to The GAFF
Through The Limerick Experiment, a theatre development and conference project in 2013, a number of artists from theatre, music, literature, dance and film came together to work collaboratively. Representatives from this group approached Limerick City and County Council to request access to the former Red Cross Hall for use as a rehearsal and development space for performing arts. In early 2014, The GAFF, then known as The HUB, was born.
Limerick's designation as the first National City of Culture in 2014, presented theatre and performing arts in Limerick, with an unprecedented opportunity to build on the legacies presented through that year's activity. The success of the numerous theatre productions staged as part of the City Of Culture programme, reinforced the theatre sector as one of Limerick's strongest cultural assets. As producer of PULSE, the theatre legacy project and Pigtown Fling, the music legacy project for 2014, The GAFF played a key part in that year's activities. In 2017, Whitby, one of the PULSE projects was presented as part of the Bram Stoker Festival in Dublin. Everything Sometimes, another project initiated through PULSE, was performed in Dance Limerick following its initial development phase in The GAFF. Both of the PULSE projects which had a life beyond 2014 were collaborations between theatre and dance artists from Limerick.
During the challenging COVID years, the fabric of the Cecil St. building deteriorated to a point where is was no longer fit for purpose. From late 2020, board members began working with Limerick City and County Council ‘s Property Department to find a space which would allow the company to continue its work. When part of the old Tait Clothing Factory was presented as an option, board members and the wider theatre and arts community jumped at the opportunity to secure this historic building on a 35 year lease.
In 2024, thanks to the generous support of the JP McManus Benevolent Fund, Limerick Council’s Housing Department through Regeneration, the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media and College Players, building renovation work began on this landmark building. The Gaff will, once again, have a physical space from which to run its programmes and, as an artist-driven, multidisciplinary, community resource can support Limerick theatre and multidisciplinary artists with dedicated spaces for rehearsing, devising and developing work.
