Category: Black & White

Bringing in the Potatoes

by irishvisions

Story
A Burrishoole Lodge farmhand places recently dug potatoes in burlap sacks and then buries them under mounds of clay. These clay hillocks protected the harvest from vermin and weather. Later the potato sacks were transported to storage closer to the home. This image was taken on Helen Hooker O’Malley’s own farm at Newport, Co. Mayo.
Location
Burrishoole, Co. Mayo
Date
1943
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Regatta Day, Roscahill

by irishvisions

Story
Given the amount of rainfall in Ireland, bogs are generally quite wet and dangerous to traverse. In this scene, a bog face has been recently cut. Its damp sods of turf are tossed upon the bank to begin the drying process. Farmers will then stack the pieces to allow more air to flow through the turf. Once dry enough, the peat is stacked in ever larger mounds and eventually into an enormous reek. Turf reeks are frequently positioned near a bog path to allow easy access for the horse and cart that bring the fuel home.
Location
Clew Bay, Co. Mayo
Date
1938
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Newport Sheep Fair

by irishvisions

Story
Market fairs for selling livestock was an important part in the life and economy of rural Ireland. This image portrays a sheep fair in Newport, Co. Mayo near where Ernie and Helen O’Malley lived and operated their own farm in 1943. A large weighing scale resembling a catapult is seen in the background. The photograph can be dated by the make and model of the motor cars appearing in the lower left of the town scene. It is a wet day, and the men are outfitted accordingly with their heavy coats, traditional caps, and walking sticks.
Location
Co. Mayo
Date
1943
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National Turf Cutting Competition

by irishvisions

Story
Since turf played such an important role in Irish rural life, it is not surprising there were turf-cutting competitions for locals to prove their prowess at an extremely difficult task. This is a photograph of the annual, national turf-cutting competition in the Bog of Allen, Co. Kildare. Spectators and judges are stationed to look down on the participants who work in teams of two. One man cuts the sod then heaves the wet pieces to his teammate on the bank who “foots” the turf in stacks for drying. Cutting turf was backbreaking and essential work.
Location
Bog of Allen, Co. Kildare
Date
1937
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Who’s in the Lead?

by irishvisions

Story
Local residents are pictured watching the annual Clare Island regatta. In the distance, West Coast hooker boats (an húicéiri) compete in a heated race. Local to the Connemara coastline, hookers were used around Clew Bay and Achill to transport goods and people. Despite near extinction by 1960, there has been a recent resurgence in constructing these old-fashioned sailboats. Now they are used primarily for pleasure, sport and to preserve traditional boat building techniques.
Location
Clare Island Regatta, Co. Mayo
Date
1938
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Raking the Hay, The Kelly Family

by irishvisions

Story
Tom, Jack, Mary and Thomas Kelly are working to bring in the hay but pause their efforts for Helen to photograph the scene. The Kelly’s are near Granuaile’s Castle in Carraigahowley, Co. Mayo. Farmers usually wore work shirts while laboring. New shirts were worn on Sundays only, transitioned to weekday wear later, then became work shirts as they aged. The men wore galluses (suspenders) to hold up their trousers even when wearing a belt. During “The Emergency” years of the Second World War, clothes and other goods were scarce and beyond most people’s modest means. Mending was common as people made do with what they had.
Location
Carraigahowley, Co. Mayo
Date
1943
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