Remembering Sir Henry's: There were many Sir Henry's in Cork and each was special 

There were many Sir Henry’s. And even though the legendary South Main Street venue has become primarily associated with the underground dance music scene, there is an older generation who will remember it as a bikers bar. There are others who will remember it as a live music venue, which famously hosted Nirvana in a support slot to Sonic Youth right before they went supernova. And there are others who will have fond memories of the venue thanks to its long running indie disco Freakscene.

But I think most will agree its place in popular culture is cemented by the Sweat Dance club night. Beginning in 1998, under the stewardship of resident DJs Greg Dowling and Shane Johnson, it introduced house music to Cork and became a European clubbing mecca. For all the awed talk manufactured around the Sonic Youth/Nirvana gig, I know of no example of it being immortalised in art. When acclaimed writers Kevin Barry and Lisa McInerney write about Sir Henry’s they are thinking about the hedonism of its club nights. Local playwright Raymond Scannell created Deep, a coming-of-age story against the backdrop of Sweat. And this year, a film student from Cobh made a short film called Into the Silence, which is inspired by Sir Henry’s and rave. A remarkable touchstone for a director who was born after the venue last shut its doors.

But the venue had many rooms and multiple nights, representing a variety of sounds. While the Thursday and Saturday Sweat nights were held in the main room, the adjacent Back Bar initially hosted reggae, until my fellow columnist Stevie G made it his own with more laidback hip-hop and R ‘n’ B. In the late ’90s, a collective of techno DJs held the Imrama night. There was a third room, located more on the Grand Parade side of the main room, and closer to the front part of the overall complex, whose anchor business was the Grand Parade Hotel, and for a period this reverberated to the sounds of drum ‘n bass.

There were many Sir Henry’s, and many ways of remembering the place. Since December, the Liquid Lounge has been hosting a night called Remembering Sir Henry’s. It comes with an important sub-heading, Room 3. Marq Walsh was a staple of that room and, interestingly, considering the number of DJs who regularly manned the decks there, he, along with messrs Dowling, Johnson and Grainger, is still actively involved in the scene. A DJ with over 30 years of experience, Walsh is one of the people behind Vision Collective Recordings and is a seasoned producer under the name QestionmarQ. While the main room grooved to the deep house pulse, Walsh’s Room 3 served up slightly harder and more uptempo house sounds.

Perhaps it was only ever intended as a once-off event, capitalising on the holiday season, but the fact it has returned four more times suggests the night has struck a chord with a broader (read younger — well, young at heart!) audience, and this Friday it returns for a sixth edition. While each one featured very different sets, for this one Walsh has promised to play his favourite tracks from the previous nights. So perhaps expect some ’90s classics courtesy of Laurent Garnier, Sasha & Digweed, React 2 Rhythm and The Grid. Walsh simply describes the night as “Fun people having fun times to fun music.”

Remembering Sir Henry’s Room 3 with Marq Walsh is at the Liquid Lounge Rooftop Bar, Marlboro Street, on Friday, August 15. Doors 11pm. €10