Celtworld
| Location | Tramore, County Waterford[1] |
|---|---|
| Operated by | Celtworld Limited |
| Opened | May 1992 |
| Closed | 1995 |
| Rides | |
| Total | 1 |
Celtworld was an educational amusement park, heritage interpretation centre, and tourist attraction in Tramore, County Waterford, Ireland.[1] It operated from 1992 to 1995 before closing due to financial difficulties.
Development
Funding
The total start-up cost for the project was more than £4 million in Irish pounds (approximately €5 million).[2] The project attracted European Union funds of £1.81 million. Tramore Fáilte, an arm of the South East Regional Tourism Organisation, provided £737,000 toward start-up costs, in addition to term loans and leasing arrangements of approximately £575,000.[2]
Private sector investment of £1.5 million was provided by Vectravision and Kentz.[2] Bank loans provided a further £600,000 of capital.[2] A further £230,000 was funded by 63 Business Expansion Scheme (BES) investors, which included employees of the Bank of Ireland, Kentz, and Tramore Fáilte.[2] The company was incorporated as Celtworld Limited.[2]
The 2.5 acre site was purchased from Tramore Fáilte for £400,000.[2]
Design
The art deco interior was designed by artist Jim Fitzpatrick.[3][4]
Features
Theatre
Celtworld's main feature was a 25-minute show[4] which involved a revolving auditorium, the largest such theatre in Europe at that time.[3] Visual effects included animated artwork, computer-generated imagery, lasers, holograms, and animatronics.[3] Every turn of the revolving theatre brought visitors to 1 of 6 presentations, which involved a range of mythical and legendary characters such as a daughter of Noah, Tuatha Dé Danann, Tuan mac Cairill, Fomorians, Partholón, Lugh, Balor, and Cú Chulainn.[3][4] Historical figures such as vikings and Saint Patrick were also included.[4]
Otherworld
After the theatre show, visitors entered the interactive Otherworld exhibition. This area included quizzes, ogham stones, Aos Sí, and an artificial tree with talking animatronic human heads.[3][4] The exit was via a gift shop.[4]
Closure and aftermath
The company experienced early trading difficulties and received a loan from Bord Fáilte in late 1993.[2] Celtworld closed in 1995 with losses of more than £4 million.[2] More than £2 million had been spent on set-up, promotion, and consultancy fees.[2] The centre's failure has been attributed to its unchanging audiovisual presentations, which failed to attract adequate repeat visitors.[5] The site went on sale in September 1995 at an asking price of £600,000 and was sold to a Northern Ireland consortium in January 1996 for £475,000.[2]
Its failure led to discussion in Dáil Éireann, the Irish parliament, where Kathleen Lynch questioned the then Minister for Tourism and Trade, Enda Kenny about its closure [6]
In 1997, the site was sold to Butlin's Mosney owner Phelim McCloskey for £380,000.[2] McCloskey developed a robotic dinosaurs exhibit which closed after less than a year.[2]
In 2000, Ambient Catering Limited purchased the site and developed a 20,000 square feet music venue named South with a capacity of 2,200 guests, at a cost of €3 million.[2] The venue opened in 2001 but closed soon afterwards.
The site was sold in May 2006 to Volute Properties Limited, who received planning permission for a mixed-use development with Dunnes Stores as anchor tenants.[2]
This proposal fell through and the building fell into disuse. Demolition commenced in 2008, and today a levelled rubble site is all that remains
Media and popular culture
Celtworld was featured in the 1994 RTÉ Television short drama, Gypsies.[7][8]
References
- 1 2 Jamie O’Keeffe (2007-06-15). "Coast clear to transform Tramore "Celtworld" site | Munster Express Online". Munster Express. Retrieved 2014-02-09.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 O'Keeffe, Jamie (2008-04-11). "Celtworld ‘legend’ is laid to rest". Munster Express. Archived from the original on 2014-02-09. Retrieved 2014-02-09.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Catastrophe, Kitty (2012-06-02). "Celtworld: Where mythology met lasers | Where's Grandad?". Wheresgrandad.wordpress.com. Retrieved 2014-02-09.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Cowman, Des (Autumn 1992). "Celtworld" (PDF). Decies. Journal of Old Waterford Society. p. 69. Retrieved 2014-02-09.
- ↑ http://doras.dcu.ie/17424/1/t.m._breathnach_20120702154402.pdf
- ↑ "Celtworld (Tramore) Failure". Dáil Éireann. 1995-10-05. Retrieved 2014-02-09.
- ↑ http://www.tcd.ie/irishfilm/showfilm.php?fid=56931
- ↑ http://snap.waterfordcoco.ie/collections/ebooks/104722/104722.pdf
