Old Galway
Category: Writing and Poetry
Old Galway
The Claddagh in Colour – Part 2
[From and article found on the Myspace of Kenny’s Bookshop, Galway, Irelend. ~RR]
17th August, 2006
Last week, we showed you some photographs that were taken by two French photographers of Claddagh women in 1913. They were using a revolutionary new technique of autochromes, the first viable system of colour photography which used a single negative. The results are very good, presenting us with colours that are not abrasive, but muted and gentle in a nostalgic way.
These photographs were commissioned by Albert Kahn, a wealthy Parisian who decided to have the world photographed in colour to make what he described as an “Archive of the Planet,” concentrating on customs and practises which were already dying out at the time. His instruction to the photographers was to record “Human activity for which total disappearance is only a question of time.”
They described this photograph as “One of the little painted houses in a hidden corner of the Claddagh with it’s inhabitants. Amongst the inhabitants of the Claddagh and Galway, there are several people of Spanish descent. It is obvious that the woman on the left of the group, with her matt skin and sombre eyes is not of the same origin as the women with lighter eyes, with either blond or red hair that you see in the towns or in the Irish countryside.” Their ideas may have been a bit romantic, but their camera has captured, as in a time-capsule, the reality of daily life in the Claddagh one hundred years ago. We are looking at three houses, one derelict, one thatched and one in need of rethatching.
As we told you last week, BBC Television are making a documentary on these photographs, and are looking for anyone who might be related to the people in them. If you are, or think you know who any of those in the photograph are, or where it was taken, could you please contact Tom Kenny in High Street (Phone 091 534767). He has the entire collection there and would love to hear from you.
Tommy Houlihan advised us on the identity of some of the women in last week’s pictures. The young lady was Mary Kelly, the eldest daughter of Nan O’Toole from Rope Walk, who is the older lady in the red cloak. Nan was a Conneely originally, and was married to Mike O’Toole who was a fisherman. The lady on the left of the photograph of the two women selling fish was a Mrs. Jordan. They all apparently got five shillings each to pose for the camera.
[This article was found on the myspace blog of one of the oldest rare bookstores in Ireland. You can visit their myspace at http://www.myspace.com/kennysbookshop, while the direct link to this article is here. ~RR]