An album of photographs recording the construction of the Savoy Cinema, O'Connell Street, Dublin and its appearance on completion.

The M. Michael Corcoran’s Photograph Albums contain photographs taken by Mother Michael Corcoran IBVM (1846-1927), Superior General of the Loreto Sisters. M. Michael was a self-taught photographer who used her camera to capture religious sisters, ministries, pupils, employees and friends of Loreto communities in Ireland and across the world. In 1902, M. Michael became the first Superior General to undertake a visitation of the IBVM communities in India and Australia and her photographic collection consists mainly of images captured during this international visitation. The albums also include images of Loreto Abbey, Rathfarnham taken in 1905 and images of Loreto Convent, Balbriggan taken between 1906 and 1907. Her albums should be of interest to anyone interested in M. Michael Corcoran IBVM as an educator or as IBVM Superior General, researchers interested in early 20th century photography, local history, early 20th century convent or school life in Ireland, and in foreign provinces.

Showing the ground floor and balcony seating and wall decoration.

Showing the Fr Mathew statue in the centre foreground. On the street in front of the site is an ass-drawn advertising cart with notices for ‘Katie Sandwina (The Strongest Woman in the World) First Time in Ireland’.

Showing the site notice which reads ‘A Cinematograph Theatre/is being erected on this site/To seat 3,000 persons’. The builders are listed as Meagher & Hayes of Cork and Dublin, and the architect as ‘F.C. Mitchell L.R.I.B.A. London W.1’, with various contractors listed as follows: Steelwork: Messrs Blake & Co. Ltd, Sheffield. Heating & Ventilation: Messrs J. Jeffreys & Co. Ltd, London. Steel Casements: Messrs Critalls & Co. Ltd, London. Electrical Installation: Theatre Equipemnt LTd, Dublin. Lifts: Waygood Otis Ltd, London. Portland Stone: H. & J. Martin Ltd, Dublin. Stone Carving: William J. Greene, Dublin. Fibrous Plaster & Decoration: Alex Malcolm & Co. Ltd, Dublin. Seating & Furnishing: -, Dublin Plastering: -, Dublin Plumbing: -, Dublin. Sanitary Fittings: -, Dublin. Granite: Osborne & Brady, Ballyknocken, Wicklow.

Showing bare structure awaiting decoration.

Showing a crane and structural steel in place.

Savoy Cinema site works: external south side elevation

Showing site clearance and ground works in progress. Visible are buildings on west side of O’Connell Street and Fr Mathew Statue, rear of recent completed building 11-13 Upper O’Connell Street on east side of O’Connell Street, top of Nelson’s Pillar, front of building on south side of Cathedral Street and rear of Pro-Cathedral. Large qualities of bricks from demolished structures remain stacked on site awaiting removal.

Showing seating and Venetian themed decorative scheme including Bridge of Sighs proscenium arch, curtain with Doge's Palace and elaborate wall elements.

Showing the first elements of structural steel in place.

Showing advertisements for ‘One Romantic Night’ and ‘Puttin’ on the Ritz’.

Includes the steelwork for an internal dome.

Showing side of the Gresham Hotel, buildings on Thomas Lane, stacks of bricks and remains of basements of demolished structures and works ‘railway’ tracks.

Showing Portland stone finished to first-floor level, scaffold and steelworks. Features an unattended pram at the site entrance.

Showing Portland stone finished to first-floor level, scaffold and steelworks.

Savoy Cinema post completion: view of the auditorium from left side of balcony towards the screen

Savoy Cinema site works: façade stone work nearing completion

Showing the steel frame and external walls (using recycled brick and stone?).

Showing the steel frame and basements under construction.

View of the lobby including entrances to stalls, ticket offices, stairs to ‘Balcony & Restaurant’ and ushers.

Showing the steelworks nearing completion. Also shows a crowd of onlookers.

Showing almost fully enclosed auditorium space from balcony, with steps for seating, towards screen wall.

Shows the site notice in place.

Savoy Cinema site works: internal view showing balcony and roof steelworks

Showing the first elements of the external Portland stone façade in place.

Includes the steelwork for an internal dome.

Unidentified beach. Two women sit in a stationary buggy drawn by a small pony, one an unidentified Sister, sits with hands clasped, the other an unidentified lady with straw hat and horse whip raised in hand. The unidentified lady leans towards the Sister. An unidentified girl, in dark clothing, white collar and straw hat stands at the horse's head. Sand dune in rear, seaweed strewn rocks in foreground. The date 1906 – 1907 has been attributed to this photograph, as M. Michael took many photographs of the beach in Balbriggan, adjacent to Loreto Convent Balbriggan, during her sojourn there from 1906 – 1907.

Lucknow, India. Elephant kneeling down, with ornamental markings on ears, forehead and below eye, man sits behind his ears, second man stands beside ladder for access to seating platform on elephants' back. Man on elephant wears turban and long coat, man standing beside ladder wears short trousers and long sleeved top, barefoot with hat. Sister sits on elephant's back, on seating platform, second sister stands beside elephant, hand on ladder, looking towards camera and holds piece of paper in her hand. Sister on ground has train of her habit hooked into waist of habit, trees in background.

Medium sized, hard bound, green photograph album titled 'Ireland, India, Australia, etc, Early 1900's', containing 116 photographs (of assorted sizes), of Ireland, India, and Australia. Embossed on the album cover is 'Impressions of Places & People'. Note the title was attributed by a previous archivist, and cannot be attributed to the photographer, M. Michael Corcoran. The majority of the photographs are captioned, in the handwriting of M. Michael Corcoran.

Large, hardbound, light brown photograph album, untitled, containing 140 black and white photographs (of assorted sizes), capturing aspects of life in Rathfarnham, Balbriggan, India, and Australia. Locations are generally not identified. Some of the photographs are captioned, many are not.

Large, hardbound, green photograph album titled 'Ireland, India, Australia' containing 177 black and white photographs (of assorted sizes), capturing aspects of life in Australia, Spain, India, Colombo and Ireland. In 1903, whilst travelling from India to Australia their ship encountered difficulties, M. Michael and her travelling companion, M. Attracta Coffey IBVM, sought shelter with the Little Sisters of the Poor in Colombo. (Note the rear cover of the album has the following text embedded: 'Sunny Memories'.) Other miscellaneous photographs include a portrait photograph of a man captioned as 'A Cingalese'; unidentified pupil playing a violin and a photographic image of the 'Shroud of Turin'. Some of the photographs are captioned, many are not.

Large, hard bound, light brown photograph album, containing 16 panoramic, black and white photographs, capturing buildings and grounds in Rathfarnham, and two sea views. Embossed on the front cover is 'Kodak Panorams'. This album should be viewed alongside M. Michael Corcoran's other images of Loreto Abbey Rathfarnham. Few of the photographs are captioned, most are not.

Hand coloured portrait of M. Michael Corcoran.

Small, hard bound, green photograph album titled 'Rathfarnham 1904' containing 23 black and white photographs (of uniform size), mainly of the gardens, grounds, buildings, Sisters, pupils and staff in Loreto Abbey Rathfarnham. Some of the photographs are captioned, many are not. The title was attributed by a previous archivist, and cannot be attributed to the photographer, M. Michael Corcoran.

Lucknow, India. Two sisters standing outdoors, in area with trees, with man wearing turban riding camel and leading a second camel to their left. One sister holds her hand up to her eyes, shielding from sun, second sister face downcast, trains of habit hooked into waist bands and second sister has long, narrow pouch hanging from her wrist/waist.

Rome, Italy. Full length portrait of M. Michael Corcoran IBVM, standing in the ruins of what appears to be ancient Rome. She stands behind a balustrade, the remains of a column to her left, further ruins of building and column in the background. This image can also be found in her photograph albums: MC/PHO/02 and MC/PHO/03.

Large, hardbound, brown and black photograph album titled 'India, Rathfarnham, Balbriggan' containing 96 black and white photographs (of uniform size), capturing aspects of life in Rathfarnham, Balbriggan and India. Note the title was attributed by a previous archivist, and cannot be attributed to the photographer, M. Michael Corcoran.

Hornsby, Australia. Two sisters, outdoors, one in foreground, one in background stand along muddy path, with rocky outcrop behind them. Both stand in side profile, looking away from camera. Sister in foreground, grasps umbrella and large straw sun hat with dark edging, train of habit is hooked into waist of habit. Sister in background stands with hand on wooden post looking out into distance.

Lucknow, India. Two sisters walking outdoors, amongst palm trees, one carrying white/light coloured umbrella, and appears taller than the second figure.

Includes a partial drawing of the cinema façade.