As featured in the Irish Builder and Engineer, 1954.
The Clash ticket stub courtesy of Classic Dublin Gigs.
Photo of the DJ inside the Top Hat courtesy of Alan Hennessy
The Fountainhead (2) courtesy of The Fountainhead.
Top Hat menu courtesy of Jim Mcloughlin.
Metallica signed ticket courtesy of Carl Prenter.
Metal Fans courtesy of Classic Dublin Gigs.
Maybe you wouldn't have been able to go inside the Top Hat while these TV shows and films were being shot but recognising that they happened is an important part of the venue's history as well. Alan Parker's 1991 film The Commitments was partly shot there. Popular music programs such as Like Now! and Non-Stop Pop, both on RTE, also shot a few gigs during the venue's golden age. The most recent guest star appearance of the Top Hat was in the 2015 skateboard documentary Hill Street, proving once more that the venue remains alive in more ways than one.
Interview with Senior Marketing Executive David Byrnes whose grandfather owned the Top Hat venue and his father and mother were also managers. He met Shane McGowan of The Pogues at the venue and The Human League in the 1980's. He also saw The Commitments filmed there in the 1990's.
Interview conducted by Olivia Lynott.
