| 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 |
| Purchase |
BUY NOW or CUSTOM ORDER |
| 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 |
| Purchase |
BUY NOW or CUSTOM ORDER |
| 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 |
| Purchase |
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| Story |
Two horses race on Carrowmore Strand near Louisburgh. Spectators watch the race that is held at low tide when the strand is at maximum width and quite level. These races stopped during the Second World War and have only been recently revived. |
| Location |
Louisburgh, Co. Mayo |
| Date |
1938 |
| Purchase |
BUY NOW or CUSTOM ORDER |
| Story |
Clare Islanders are watching the home stretch of a heated race in their annual regatta. Dark-hulled hooker sailboats cluster just off the point. |
| Location |
Clare Island Regatta, Co. Mayo |
| Date |
1938 |
| Purchase |
BUY NOW or CUSTOM ORDER |
| 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 |
| Purchase |
BUY NOW or CUSTOM ORDER |
| 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 |
| Purchase |
BUY NOW or CUSTOM ORDER |
| Story |
Ireland is known for its rustic fields, walls, mountains, and lakes. In this image the structure of the carefully delineated field system is evident. Fields fringe Lough Nafooey where the Mayo mountains run down to meet the Galway border. |
| Location |
Lough Nafooey, Co. Galway |
| Date |
1938 |
| Purchase |
BUY NOW or CUSTOM ORDER |
| Story |
This haunting image with its ominous, brooding clouds evokes the tragic local tale of the Famine Walk from Louisburgh to Delphi Lodge where the unsympathetic Famine relief officer was visiting. On a cold winter morning in March 1849, hundreds of impoverished, starving, Irish tenant farmers and their families struggled along this desolate road beside Doolough Lake. They arrived in time for their appointed 7.a.m. meeting with the relief official to seek confirmation that they could remain on the outdoor relief roll. The tenants were refused aid. Desperate farmers attempted the tortuous 16-mile journey home. Some of the starving people died en route. The Native American Choctaw tribe had heard of Ireland’s Great Hunger. Just 16 years after the start of the brutal Trail of Tears, members of the Choctaw tribe sacrificed to send financial aid to the Irish people. There is still a deep allegiance between the Irish and Native American peoples. The Irish are honored that members of the Choctaw Nation join in the annual Doolough Famine Walk to commemorate both peoples’ ancestors and reaffirm the Nations’ abiding bond. |
| Location |
Doolough, Co. Mayo |
| Date |
1938 |
| Purchase |
BUY NOW or CUSTOM ORDER |
| Story |
This image clearly shows the herringbone pattern remaining on the face of the turf bank after four layers of turf have been cut by the spade or slean. Once a sod is cut, it is placed on the ground to dry. After a few days when the turf is firm, four or five sods are stood on end in small triangles to allow the wind and air to freely flow through to continue the drying process. Several more stages ensue before the sods are carried out to a large turf reek on the side of a bog path. Later the dry turf is transported home. |
| Location |
Co. Mayo |
| Date |
1938 |
| Purchase |
BUY NOW or CUSTOM ORDER |
