Cork's Savoy ready for rebirth on Valentine's weekend

After a closure that lasted 10 years, the Savoy on Patrick Street is to be reborn as a live music venue and cultural space. 

Local promoters the Good Room are working in conjunction with building owners Clarendon Properties to relaunch the venue on Valentine’s weekend.

With the rest of the building now developed for retail and residential use, future event-goers will enter the building via a new doorway on Drawbridge Street, around the corner from the traditional Patrick’s Street entrance.

“We are delighted to get the Savoy open again,” said Joe Kelly, who will be running the venue with his fellow Good Room principals Ed O’Leary and Caoilian Sherlock. 

“For decades, the Savoy was a huge part of Cork’s nightlife, and we hope to continue that legacy of quality music acts and other cultural events.” 

Spread over two rooms – a main section and a smaller upstairs lounge area – the revamped venue is expected have a capacity of just less than 600 people. 

Kelly says the Good Room promoters will continue to run events at Live at St Luke’s.

“Some acts are just ideal for the sit-down concerts in the old church, but it’ll be great to put on stand-up gigs and other events in the city centre,” 

said Kelly, a Galway native with a decades-long involvement in Cork’s cultural scene through such venues as Sir Henrys, the Bodega, and the Pav, as well as Cork Midsummer Festival and the annual literary event on Garinish Island.

Work has been underway at the Savoy over the past few weeks to get the revamped venue ready in time for the February 14 opening, featuring local brass collective BoolaBoom, Spanish guitar duo Zurito and soul band The Leon Stax Equation. Further programme announcements will be made in the coming weeks.

Organisers say the renovation has involved improving the sound and sightlines in a more intimate version of the venue than previous incarnations.

The Savoy first opened in 1932 as a cinema, and also acted as the main screen for the early years of the Cork Film Festival when actors of international renown graced the red carpet. 

As a music venue, it has hosted concerts by a diverse range of major stars, from the likes of Count John McCormack and the Rolling Stones, to Damon Albarn and Run DMC.