| 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 |
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 |
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 |
Co. Mayo |
| Date |
1975 |
| Purchase |
BUY NOW or CUSTOM ORDER |
| Story |
Ireland was originally covered with trees. Over the centuries their remains have been transformed into bogland. Even today, bogs reveal evidence of the large trees that once grew there. As the trees decayed, the bogs developed. In turn, locals cut the bog to provide turf to burn in their hearths to warm their homes and cook. This image depicts the silvered stump of an ancient tree just below the earth’s surface. Above it, a turf reek awaits transport to the farmer’s home. |
| Location |
Co. Mayo |
| Date |
1975 |
| Purchase |
BUY NOW or CUSTOM ORDER |
| Story |
Croagh Patrick, where St Patrick is said to have fasted for forty days, towers over its foothills and Clew Bay. In this morning image, the mist still covers the low mountains and Croagh Patrick itself. The photo was taken from a vantage point near Carrowholly, just north of Westport. |
| Location |
Co. Mayo |
| Date |
1975 |
| Purchase |
BUY NOW or CUSTOM ORDER |
| Story |
Traditional folklore in rural Ireland maintains fairies live in drumlin mounds with hawthorn trees growing on top and around them. There were many times in rural communities when local workers would not help dig a road, foundation or railway line through a fairy mound. To this day, there are several examples of the Irish refusing to disrupt these hallowed sites especially for the construction of modern roadways. |
| Location |
Co. Mayo |
| Date |
1939 |
| 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 |
