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One adult shop, GlamWorld, on Mary Street, caters for both gay and straight people who come to watch films. Mark also says that saunas are “dying a death” – and that adult cinemas are becoming ever more popular with both gay and straight people. They will only go at night, often when their partners are away, for cheap and anonymous sex. Like Kevin, Mark says that a lot of the men he encounters in saunas, particularly at weekends, are closeted. The Dock sauna has people who come in at the weekend and come up from down the country. The Dock is a home away from home for Mark: an intimate, comfortable place to meet other men. “They don’t talk to you,” he says, “so once you’re over 30 you’re past it as far as they’re concerned.” But this is its appeal for him he says the Boilerhouse is “full of 18- to 25-year-olds that think they’re God’s gift to mankind”. Mark, who is 48, and also goes to saunas abroad, agrees that the Dock tends to be visited mainly by older men. Campbell says that a lot of the men who go to the sauna are “very secretive” about their sexuality, and the sauna provides the anonymity they want. They probably get 95 or 97 per cent of all the trade.”ĭespite the Dock’s lack of success in recent years the sauna still seems to have a significance for older men, many of whom are not openly gay. And I think the Boilerhouse probably has a total monopoly. “To be honest, if I had my way, I would probably close it. It wouldn’t be the hive of the gay community. We would only get five visitors a day, and at the weekend we might get maybe 15. “I think the internet probably killed them. He adds that he believes gay saunas are on their way out. Most people who come here would be over 60, and I would think that’s probably because they can’t use the internet.” Michael Campbell, who owns the Dock, says that his venue is used mostly by older men. He’s technically cheating constantly, all the time, which is kind of sad.” He said, ‘If I told my wife I’m gay I’d lose everything.’ He is missing out in terms of his own personal life. “I met a guy a few years ago who said he was actually very happy in his marriage, but at the same time he was still closeted. It’s sad, but that’s the way their lives are. One would be a gay life and the other would be straight. “There are other men who are married to their wives, and of course they’re leading double lives. The eldest, from what I recall, would be in their late 70s.”īut while the younger men are often openly gay, Kevin says, many older men are “very strict on privacy” and are often closeted. I went there on my birthday last year, and the lads were about 18 or 19.
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Some people did warn me in advance that it was a bunch of old men, but I said to myself, ‘I’m just going to go and see what the story is.’ Back in those days it was a bit of an older gentleman’s place. “When I first went there I thought I was the youngest.
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Saunas have a reputation for being used mostly by older men, but Kevin says this has changed. Normally I go to the Outhouse, which is a local LGBT community centre, on a Friday, and if I want sex badly I will go to the George for a bit of alcohol, or any gay bar. I went there on New Year’s Eve and had a fantastic time. I would go there mainly for sex but also because you somehow get an enjoyment out of it. “It’s an alternative to getting sex from apps or websites, or the old-fashioned way of going to a gay bar. His experience has been overwhelmingly positive, he says. He came out in 2010, and he says the sauna gave him a unique opportunity to have anonymous and frequent sex with multiple partners. Kevin, who is 32, has been going to the Boilerhouse several times a year since 2012. Dublin is home to two of them: the Boilerhouse and the Dock, places where huge numbers of gay and bisexual men of all ages, forgoing smartphone technology, still go to have sex. Ireland has had gay saunas since at least the 1980s, although they’re rarely talked about in the mainstream media, or even in the LGBTQ+ community. Dating and hook-up apps such as Grindr may have changed its dating scene, but one aspect of gay culture remains largely unchanged: its saunas.