The Point @ 25

Development of the Point Theatre Dublin 1988 -David O'shea Architectural Photographer Dublin Ireland

The Point Theatre Dublin Docklands Dublin January 1988

The Point Theatre (also known as the Point Depot or simply “the Point”) was a concert and events venue in Ireland‘s Capital City Dublin, which was open from 1988–2007. Over the 19 years its Doors were open more than 2 million people attended its various Events . It was located in Dublin Docklands becide the River Liffey on the North Wall Quay. The Point was closed in the summer of 2007 for a major redevelopment and was rebranded as the O2 in July 2008.

The Point Depot was originally constructed as a goods warehouse for the Great Southern and Western Railway in 1878 at a cost of £308,000

Photograph taken in February 1988 of the Instigator of the Point Depot National Exhibition Centre Mr Harry Crosbie

. In 1987 Local Businessman Mr Harry Crosbie purchased the Derelict Building and the 7.3 acre site for £955,000. During that year it was used by Irish Rock Band U2 to recorded tracks for their 1988 album, “Rattle and Hum“, and footage from the building of performances of the songs “Van Diemen’s Land” and “Desire” appear in the accompanying “Rattle and Hum” movie.

In January 1988 work started on converting the former CIE Point Depot ,still retaining the Grandeur and Elegance of its 19th Century cut stone and red bricked Building, to a multi-purpose top Class exhibition and Conference Centre fitted with all the modern Amenities .

11 months later in November 1988 The Point Depot opened its doors for its first event – Irish Political Party “Fine Gael” had their annual Ard Fheis (Party Conference) at the Venue . Mr Crosbie had spent in excess of 3 million pounds and turned a derelict Building in Dublin Docklands into Ireland’s Largest exhibition and concert venue with a floor area of 138,000 sq.ft (12,821 sq Meters),Seating capacity of 8000, with full facilities, on site car parking ,and a selection of Bars and Restaurants .

I was lucky enough to meet Harry just after he Purchased the Site and expressed an interest in photographing the Transformation of the Building . He agreed to grant full access to undertake the project and as a result i have enjoyed a very strong working relationship with him and the building since .

U2’s Director of Sound Joe O’Herlihy undertakes the first Sound Check -November 1988

2013 Marks the 25th Anniversary of the venue and so for my first Blog to celebrate this, i am going to Post some of the early images i took of the original transformation . All of these images were shot with a 35mm Nikon FM 2 Analogue camera . Most were shot in Black & White . The films used were Kodak tri-x ,Ilford fp4 and Agfapan 100. I used three len’s to shoot most of the project A Nikkor 20mm f3.5 -A Nikkor 28mm f3.5 and a Nikkon 50mm f1.8 E series lens.

David O’shea

http://www.osheaphotography.com

Development of the Point Theatre Dublin 1988 -David O’shea Architectural Photographer Dublin Ireland

One thought on “The Point @ 25”

Mary Scoot Sabol says: August 20, 2014 at 4:21 pm

Great photos!! I have been living in the USA for 30 years and it’s awesome to see in photos what has been going on there! Rita Fox is an old friend of mine from years back, I am happy to see the great things she is doing in the city!!