Skate City, Ireland's Oldest Skateboard Shop Est. 1978
14 Crown Alley, Temple Bar, Dublin 2
01-6799900
01 Mar 2014
Meet Clive: Godfather of Irish Skateboarding
“Does Tony Hawk use scooters?” a customer asks Clive Rowen, owner of Skate City in Dublin’s Temple Bar. “Hmmm… not really,” he says, guiding the customer over to a set of scooters. The customer’s son, who looks around 6 years old, points to the wall and asks, “Is that a longboard?” He gazes in awe.
It’s quite clear his mother has other plans for him: safer, scooter activities to be exact, but you can tell he really wants the longboard; this boy will never survive in a skate park on a scooter. If Clive had the choice, he wouldn’t sell scooters, his real passion is skateboarding but business is business.
24 Jan 2012
Irish Independent
ow U2's cover 'Boy' rocked the world of skating
HE's the 'Boy' that U2 made famous with the album of the same name. But cover star Peter Rowen grew up to be a teenage skateboarder.
He and his elder brother Clive were part of the gang of pioneering skaters that sprung up around an iconic skate shop in Dublin.
The craze kicked off in the mid-1980s when 'Back To The Future' introduced skateboarding to a wider audience -- but the formative Irish scene relied heavily on imports and innovation.
Now the explosion in Irish skateboarding, and Mr Rowen's part in it, is recalled in a new documentary called 'Hill Street'.
02 May 2014
RTÉ
Watch! Trailer for Irish documentary Hill Street
Check out the trailer for the upcoming documentary Hill Street, which explores the early stages of the Irish skateboarding scene.
Hill Street looks at the evolution of skateboarding culture in Dublin since the late 1980s up until today. The initial driving force behind the scene was a proprietor of a unique skate shop in North Dublin inner city – ‘Clives of Hill Street’. From here, Clive Rowen single-handedly progressed the skate scene through the building of primitive ramps at the shop before graduating to a temporary skate park in the Top Hat Ballroom in Dún Laoghaire, County Dublin.
Clive later managed to convince the Powell Peralta ‘Bones Brigade’ Team, including the legendary Tony Hawk, to visit the skate park for a now historic demo. The film comprises interviews with key players in both the Irish and global skate community and features rare, never-seen-before footage.
07 Jul 2013
Broadsheet.ie
Hill Street Dudes
An Irish skateboard documentary? You better believe it. Directed by JJ Rolfe.
The initial driving force behind the scene was a proprietor of a unique skate shop in North Dublin inner city – ‘Clive’s of Hill Street’. From here, Clive Rowen single-handedly progressed the skate scene through the building of primitive ramps at the shop before graduating to a temporary skate park in the Top Hat Ballroom in Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin….an exploration of a sport trying to legitimise itself against the backdrop of 80s Ireland.
22 May 2014
Hill Street Documentary
Hill Street looks at the evolution of skateboarding culture in Dublin since the late 1980s up until today. The initial driving force behind the scene was a proprietor of a unique skate shop in North Dublin inner city – ‘Clive’s of Hill Street’. From here, Clive Rowen single-handedly progressed the skate scene through the building of primitive ramps at the shop before graduating to a temporary skate park in the Top Hat Ballroom in Dún Laoghaire, County Dublin. Clive later managed to convince the Powell Peralta ‘Bones Brigade’ Team, including the legendary Tony Hawk, to visit the skate park for a now historic demo. The film comprises interviews with key players in both the Irish and global skate community and features rare, never-seen-before footage.