Loafers Bar in Cork was one of Ireland’s longest running gay bars. it opened in 1983 and suddenly closed in 2015. Loafers was much more than a bar; it was a crucial community space, a home and a refuge for the Cork LGBT community. Its rooms were filled with love, laughter, dancing, political discussions and activism.
Marking 40 years since the opening of Loafers, the documentary, through a combination of interviews, archival footage, photographs, illustrations, and animation, gives a glimpse into the legend and legacy of the bar. The documentary explores what Loafers meant to the people who ran it, to those who worked in it and to those who frequented it, and the impact of the loss of such an important space for the community.
Orla Egan
Orla Egan is a Queer Archival Activist. She has been actively involved in the Cork LGBT Community since the 1980s. She established the Cork LGBT Archive to preserve, store, share and display information in relation to the rich history of the LGBT community in Cork. Orla Egan the author of Queer Republic of Cork, Cork’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual andTransgender Communities 1970s-1990s, published by Onstream Publishers in 2016. She also wrote the short play, Leeside Lezzies and is Director of the short LGBT documentary „I’m Here, I’m Home, I’m Happy“ as well as the 2023 documentary "Loafers". Orla Egan developed the Cork LGBT Archive Exhibition which has been on display in a variety of locations inside and outside of Ireland.