Aula Maxima (), officially the McMahon Hall, is a theatre building in

Maynooth Maynooth (; ) is a university town in north County Kildare, Ireland. It is home to Maynooth University (part of the National University of Ireland and also known as the National University of Ireland, Maynooth) and St Patrick's College, Maynoo ...

County Kildare County Kildare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the Local gove ...

, Ireland. It was built in 1893. Aula Maxima comes from

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, meaning ''great hall''. The building is also known simply as "The Aula". It is situated on the south campus of

Maynooth University Maynooth University (MU) (), is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland in Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland. Maynooth University was formerly known as National University of Ireland, Maynooth (NUIM; ). It was Ireland ...

and

St Patrick's College, Maynooth St Patrick's Pontifical University, Maynooth (), is a pontifical Catholic university in the town of Maynooth near Dublin, Ireland Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mou ...

and is the main theatre for the university, college and surrounding area. It also serves as the conferring hall of the university where the annual graduations take place. The Aula was also used as a cinema for students of the college, with the Maynooth Students' Union screening films there.

History

Monsignor James McMahon of the

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Catholic research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is one of two pontifical universities of the Catholic Church in the United States – the only one that is not primarily a ...

Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

originally gifted the building to St Patrick's College, his alma mater, and its construction was completed under the presidency of Bishop Robert Browne. The Aula Maxima, an exam hall, was completed between 1892 and 1893, and was renovated in the 1940s and again in the 1980s.

Dramatic performances

Maynooth University's Drama Society (also known as the Roscian Players) is the resident company of Aula Maxima. The venue has also hosted performances by St Patrick's College's dramatic society, Maynooth University Chamber Orchestra and Maynooth Community Players:

Folklore

There are numerous stories relating to the reputed presence of a ghost in Aula Maxima. Simply known as the Aula Ghost, he is reputed to be the spirit of a projectionist who fell to his death from the projectionist's box in the 1940s. A number of superstitions exist regarding the Aula Ghost, including one in which the ghost reputedly turns a chair, placed near the Aula Maxima's projection box, to face away from the stage if he does not like a performance or its staging.

References

{{Theatres in Ireland Theatres completed in 1893 Buildings and structures in County Kildare Maynooth St Patrick's College, Maynooth Maynooth University Theatres in the Republic of Ireland 19th-century architecture in the Republic of Ireland University auditoriums

History

Dramatic performances

Folklore

See also

References