Galway city’s Black Gate Cultural Centre, which closed in 2020, has announced that it is opening a new venue and has launched a crowdfunding campaign to assist with the costs. The new premises, on Flood Street in Galway, will include a music venue, bar and recording studio and are expected to open in the coming months. 

The Black Gate team are aiming to generate €80,000 in funding for the space. ‘It’s been really nice engaging with the community,’ said co-founder Peadar King, speaking to the Journal of Music about the feedback on the campaign so far. ‘It’s been good as well to put it into people’s minds that it’s coming back, because people miss it.’ He added:

It’s been tough trying to keep the whole thing alive. It would have been a lot easier to not do it… and just focus on something else… but we missed the community and we missed the artists and we missed all that stuff. It’s very much part of our identity and we wanted to reopen for that reason. 

Supporters can contribute in a number of ways, including purchasing drinks in advance, gift cards, t-shirts, art prints and a postcard collection. Larger contributions, ranging from €100 to €5,000, include a range of rewards such as merch, concert tickets, recording sessions and private concerts. 

The Black Gate venue was opened by King and Eamonn Day Lavelle in 2017 on St Francis Street as a music venue and wine bar. It hosted intimate concerts, improv nights, film screenings, visual art exhibitions, sessions, and literature and community events. In its three years of business, it became a much-loved arts space in the city, and was expanded by the team to include an artist co-working space and a recording studio. They also launched a record label and released singer-songwriter Niamh Regan’s remarkable debut album Hemet, which was nominated for the 2020 RTÉ Choice Music Prize Album of the Year.

Liam Ó Maonlaí, performing in the original venue in 2020 (Photo: Black Gate).

Since closing in 2020 due to the pandemic, Black Gate have creatively reimagined their work and launched a production company, creating successful music and arts programming for film and TV, including The Black Gate Sessions, a YouTube series that featured New Dad and Niwel Tsumbu and Eamonn Cagney. They also produced Éire Eile, the series presented by DJ Shampain that explored subcultures and alternative scenes in Ireland, and the One Song podcast series with composer and multi-instrumentalist Peter Broderick.

In 2022, they produced Cumasc: Seisiúin sa Black Gate, a series on TG4 that paired musicians from different backgrounds. Filmed in the original venue, the series shows intimate and tender performances, jamming sessions and conversations with artists including Rhiannon Giddens, Rachael Lavelle, Junior Brother and Jinx Lennon. Earlier this year, they produced a second season of Cumasc with Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh, Zoë Conway, Ríoghnach Connolly and John Francis Flynn.

During this time, the team have also been hosting concerts in various venues in Galway while renovating the new venue. The soon-to-be-opened space has been fully refurbished and will include furnishings, artwork and features from the previous venue, maintaining the same style and charm as the original space. 

To contribute to the campaign, visit www.indiegogo.com.

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