The Genius of Father Browne: Ireland's Photographic Discovery 1991 Hardcover.

IMAGES OF IRELAND'S PEOPLE AND PLACES - SPLENDIDLY CAPTURED

'PERCEPTIVE, HUMOROUS, EVEN LOVING OBSERVATION OF A SOCIETY' RTE Guide

A PICTORIAL RECORD... OF A VALUE BEYOND MEASURE' Belfast Telegraph

.A MASTER PHOTOGRAPHER WITH AN UNERRING EYE' London Independent

The Genius of Fr. Browne

Among the fine photographs in this

book there are many which will live

in the mind's eye long after the book

has been put aside. The regularity

with which Father Browne succeeds

in capturing the remarkable image,

and his consistently high standard of

photography, must surely rank him

among the great photographers of his

time: pictures such as 'The Happy

Warrior' (page 67), Stanley's Walk

(page 16), A Helping Hand (page 34),

Upper Lough Erne (page 36), Eric

(page 49), Old Blarney Street (page

126-127) - and so many more.

This new collection of Father

Browne photographs of Ireland is

presented in four sections, North,

South, East and West, and includes

some thirty pictures in each section.

All thirty-two counties are

represented and for ease of reference

the contents list is followed by an

index of places and names.

E. E. O'Donnell has selected a

number of photographs for extended

commentary, providing brief social

and historical contexts for these

pictures or technical comment on the

photographer's expertise. These texts

will add another dimension to the

viewing of the pictures and are

intended to win for the photographs

closer attention and some apprecia-

tion of the photographer's technique

and intent.

When he died in 1960, Father

Browne left 42,000 negatives behind

him- an archive now known to be

of major significance for photography

and as a social and historical record of

his native Ireland, north and south,

of the United Kingdom, of Australia,

and of many other countries. The

discovery of this archive by E. E.

O'Donnell in 1985 has revealed to the

world the genius of Father Browne,

photographer.

WOLFHOUND PRESS

68 Mountjoy Square, Dublin 1.

ISBN 0 86327 265 7

CONTENTS

Frontispiec

as 1918 (detail)

7 Index

olamesand?laces

The Fhotographer at Arras (1918,

NORTH

North Point: Malin Head (1929'

Selline mushrooms (o

PiB¿gods being loaded at Carndonagh

Derry City from the roof of St Columb's

College (1940)

KocP"Deny StoRley's Walk, offlecky

MIss McCabe accompanies her

dauhter bleen clones no44

18 Derryvolgie Avenue. Belfast (1949)

The coal•man on the Ormeau koad.

bellasaeminus

Shadow ofashunteratennisseen

AVen

25

Getting up smoke on the Great

Northern Railway at Strabane10361

sincer

Crowds leavine St Patrick sCathedral

Armagh (1934)

Asummerreunion(1940

Wintry road conditions near

Carnlough(1937)

Suratrick sgrave, Downpatrick (1931)

"The Long Stone' near Mav

(1931

30 Mr. McCann poses for Father Browne

near Ballycastie

31 Panoramic view of Enniskillen (1932)

AHelp

ing Ha

Ind. Ploughing at

Maguire's Bridoe1930)

County fermanaon

Northern Lights (1937)

boatman on thestrand at Gushendall

carNw

boys hitching up their pony and trap

Upper Lough Erne (1932)

stormy day at Lough Dere (1934)

hearth in the hills near Cav

Town (1945)

Miss Barbara Vincent- ones

in her

buggy near Glasslough (1949)

Nilbroney graveyard, near Rostrevor

TheF.C.a.aloca defence

forms a gua

rd of honourin Virginia

Er. Kcown at the Prem

milnacrou

EAST

East Point: Wicklow Castle Head

lock Dornan. emplovee of Cora.

lompair Eireann at Aston's Ouav

Workmen nipping up© Connell Street

Decorations in Count Dublin forthe

uchansac

Congress (1932)

schoolboys helped to fight the fames

11928) (see DageSD

The bodv of a small bov. Bric. in the

mortuary of Cappagh Hospital (1928)

Malachi Horn

orballinascorneya

theageorninety-three(1942.

Sean T. O Kelly, President of Eire, at

Thisresidence

chaball

the Phoenix Park I>18

Town

dcs roved di

Self undergoing anaesthetic(1938)

Meade performing an

Thecircus comes (o kan.

(1929)

Mi. byme s mobile cinema (1942)

Dodgem

carsarethelatestcraze

Hewers of wood outside Ca

Gaclicfootball atSt. Patrick s College

The camogie team at Goresbridge

58 The Piper', Tullamore

59

The Poacher atStrallan(1225)

Newerange(1929)

Enjoying the picture page, Longtorc

Salvaging the wreckageafte

arailway

Portarlington(1944)

Roadside school at Ballinabrannagh

Sign Writing (1928)

'The Happy Warrior' John Boohan of

Nilbeggan(1929)

The mower returning (1922)

Ane.

70

inc old lady at Gorey (1933)

Co. & Mrs. Randal Plunkett (ISD)

MainStreet. Mullinoar 11940

Mrs. Prank Willis with her daughter

Mary in their phacton at Blackrock

(1944)

72

Wexford Town trom the tower ol

St. Peter SCollege (1931)

James Farrell vfrom

the Wood of Allen

E. E. O'Donnell, sj has been

associated with the work of

photographer Frank Browne -

now known as the Francis

Browne Collection - ever since

the 42,000 negatives were dis-

covered in a huge battered old

suitcase after Fr. Browne's death.

E. E. O'Donnell selected 120 of the

Dublin photographs to illustrate

his book The Annals of Dublin -

Fair City (Wolfhound Press 1987) a

modern chronology of the city's

history. He holds a doctorate in

Communications from the

University of Southern California

at Los Angeles. Passionately

committed to the preservation of

the collection - described by

experts as one of the most impor-

tant photographic collections in

Ireland -and to its presentation to

the public in a form that befits its

importance, he selected and

introduced Fr. Browne's Ireland:

Remarkable Images of People and

Places (Wolfhound Press, 1989)

which won the Irish Book Awards

General Medal in 1990.