Built in 1886 St Columb’s Hall is situated in the heart of Derry City perched alongside the East Wall of the famous Derry Walls and is currently in the midst of a major redevelopment.
St Columb’s Hall has an unrivalled pedigree as a very special location for debate, performance and entertainment.
- It was the venue that revolutionary thinkers including Emmeline Pankhurst, Eoin McNeill and Eamon De Valera visited to gather support.
- It has hosted international artists including Roy Orbison, Chubby Checker, Val Doonican, Ruby Murray, Dana and Phil Coulter.
- It was the first performance opportunity for many of Derry’s creatives and performers as the home of the Orchard Gallery, the Derry Féis and the St Columb’s Hall Pantomime.
- It was a place of refuge – originally set up by the St Columb’s Total Abstinence Society as a Temperance Hall to avoid the perils of alcohol, St Columb’s Hall went on to host many groups and organisations during troubled times. These groups included a school for Children, the Longtower Church, the Derry Playhouse, St Eugene’s Boys Club and it took over the hosting of many groups following the Guildhall Fire in 1908.
In 2012, the Garvan O’Doherty Group took over St Columb’s Hall as a philanthropic project for the City and set about finding a community partner. In 2019 a new charitable trust, the St Columb’s Hall Trust began work in fully redeveloping this cultural gem for the benefit of the people of Derry and beyond.