An image of two inhabitants of the Aran Islands in about 1940. The title of the print is ‘seanchas’, an old Irish word referring to the act of storytelling and conveying an ancient tale handed down by oral tradition. A ‘seanchaí’ was a storyteller or a custodian of this tradition.
A view of the landscape around Slemish, a small mountain near Ballymena in County Antrim in about 1935. According to tradition, Slemish (or Slieve Mish as it was historically called), is the first known Irish home of Saint Patrick.
A view of the horse fair in Ballinasloe, County Galway, in about 1940. Held annually in October, the Ballinasloe Fair is one of the oldest horse fairs in Europe dating back to at least the eighteenth century.
A view of a turner working on a traditional pole lathe in County Wexford. A manuscript annotation on the reverse of the print reads 'Bowl-turning on the pole lathe. One of the oldest crafts and now almost extinct as an art'.
A view of Dunlewey Lough and the ruins of old Dunlewey Church in County Donegal. The photograph was taken on the slopes of Errigal. The ruined church was formerly a Church of Ireland (Anglican) chapel of ease, built in about 1853.
Two views of the annual Easter commemoration at Arbour Hill Cemetery, Dublin, for the 1916 Rising leaders. The photographs probably show a commemoration ceremony held in the early 1950s.
A view of a group of pilgrims at Gougane Barra in County Cork in 1910. The photograph shows (second on the left) Fr. Huxley, the parish priest who was responsible for building the present-day oratory at Gougane Barra.
An image of a large group of Irish pilgrims at an audience with Pope Pius XII (1876-1958) at Castel Gandolfo just outside Rome on 20 September 1953. The pilgrims are members of the Third Order of St. Francis, a religious fraternity of lay men and women attached to the Franciscan Friary on Merchants’ Quay in Dublin. Several Franciscan friars (Order of Friars Minor) can be seen in the image. The individual (with the spectacles) immediately to the right of Pius XII is William MacNeely (1889-1963), the Bishop of Raphoe from 1923 until 1963.
A passenger liner off the coast at Dún Laoghaire in County Dublin on 24 June 1932. A caption on the reverse of the image (credited to the Irish Army Air Corps) notes that ship’s arrival at the port was associated with the 31st International Eucharistic Congress (22-26 June 1932).