Once Upon A Time In A Cinema: Limerick family tales inspire nostalgic film

David Gleeson's family had owned cinemas in Co Limerick since the 1940s. He returned to his native county make his latest feature film in a disused cinema, writes Esther McCarthy

Colin Morgan in a scene from Once Upon A Time In A Cinema.

As a boy growing up in Cappamore in Co Limerick, David Gleeson was steeped in the movies. His grandfather, Willie, had opened a cinema in the town since the 1940s, while his dad Eddie, and uncle Willie Joe, expanded into Kilmallock in the 1970s. 

Eddie went on to open a cinema in Nenagh and manage others in Limerick, becoming one of Ireland’s best-known personalities in the business, in a career that spanned 79 years. Having started helping out at his father’s cinema at the age of 12, Eddie Gleeson retired at the age of 90, a year before his death in 2022.