La Catedral Studio & The Back Loft

The Good
I saw a pretty kick ass indy play here in the beginning of December called «The Suitcase Milongurea» by Nicole Rouke and the smokin’ sounds of Truly Divine. The space is a solid venue space to host an event. Big room, It has that NY city loft feel meets local messy artist space. Lots of cool local artists have their work displayed all around the gallery.
The drawbacks
Some of the a/​v equipment wasn’t working on my last visit there and the bathrooms need better maintenance, but other than that the venue is a chill hang out spot!

Large informal art gallery /​festival /​event venue off Thomas Street. It’s a very handy location parking wise and bike wise (with the Dublin bike station not far). There are also resident artist studios in there so it is altogether an amazing place where anything can happen, still affordable when you rent it with a few people. The only thing negative I can think of is that the first impression you get when you enter the place isn’t as good as when you are upstairs, but like Katie Ann said, the place is very unique !

Le Catedral’s fuchsia pink door stands out like a ray of light in the midst of the more cheerless, industrialized looking exteriors on St. Augustine Street. This intriguing mode of entry really roused my interest. Upon entry, ascend the white-​washed walls laden with a whole conglomerate of paintings and photographs old and new. The Back Loft is a bright and roomy multi-​disciplinary loft located at the back of La Catedral Studios. It is a multi-​purpose space for the arts in a reclaimed Victorian industrial loft. Refurbished to a bare minimum to preserve the raw fabric of its past time charm, this inspired space is an unconventional artists’ playground which embraces any art related project.
The space may be hired for art exhibitions, live art events, theatre plays and rehearsals, workshops, intimate music gigs, dance, life drawing, photo shoots, film location and functions, to mention a few. The Back Loft is particularly open to experimentations and to adventurous site-​specific work, to individual and collectives’ curated projects and is an ideal springboard for emerging artists.
I recently attended a photo exhibition here organized by a college friend who was able to get her hands on the venue relatively easily. Since its establishment in 2005, the Back Loft has played host to a great array of events independently curated by individuals and collectives. From what she said the studios offered a nurturing and supportive environment with 24 hr/​7 day access, wi-​fi, visibility on the studios’ blog, kitchen and chill out space, free attendance at the back loft events, participation in an open studio event at Culture Night, negotiable rates for hire of the Back Loft and free access to the Back Loft for private use.
I have attended a separate function here where I witnessed the use of one projector, one sound system (mixing desk and two speakers), two microphone stands, one microphone, one upright acoustic piano and a rack of gallery spotlights to further emphasise it’s unique resourcefulness. From a punter’s point of view the space’s great natural light as a result of sky-​lights running the length of the space and original pine timber flooring provide the ideal backdrop to witness pioneering artwork like no other.