In a quiet, out-of-the-way industrial estate in Finglas lies what is perhaps the nation’s greatest dress-up box. Established in the thick of the financial crash in 2009, the Abbey Theatre’s Costume Hire warehouses have more than 30,000 pieces. From fine period costumes to GAA strips, leather brogues to space suits, and Garda uniforms to priestly gear, it’s a trove of marvellous make-believe – and every single piece is available to rent.“We don’t do fancy dress,” says the Abbey’s head of costume and costume hire, Donna Geraghty. Instead, whether you’re involved in amateur dramatics or making a music video, shooting a film, or getting a production on to the professional stage, the Abbey is there for you. Need a harlequin? Not a problem. Short of a ruff and a jabot? Perhaps a huge crinoline? Do you plan a character lounging in a feathered house coat, or acting at loafing about in tattered trousers? You’ll find everything you need here, all arrayed and meticulously organised on the rows and rows of rails. The first thing you notice are the mannequins. On my visit, a New Romantic figure, with a hint of Adam Ant, is standing to attention at the entrance. “The team like to dress them up,” says Geraghty. A jabot, by the way, is a ruffled neck piece. Geraghty is a mine of historical costume information. “Some things survived the fire of 1951,” she says. “We still have the odd piece.” Her words have an added poignancy, given the fire on May 11th of this year that ravaged the warehouse of Nomac Productions. The Waterford-based costume hire business had been in operation since 1988. There, tens of thousands of costumes were damaged or destroyed. “Pieces,” according to the statement released by owner Blánaid MacCann on behalf of her team, “that hold not only endless memories for us, but endless memories for all of those who have worn them.” It’s a sentiment that hits home walking the aisles at the Abbey storehouse. You’re walking through years of productions, of the passions expressed on stage, and the passions of those that created the characters, and who brought them to life. Sandra Gibney at work in the breakdown area of the Abbey Theatre Costume department. Photo: Bryan O’Brien