The Other Ireland: Changing Times 1870-1920 - Tapa dura

The Other Ireland, with a selection of images from the twilight years of the Union of Great Britain and Ireland, attempts to capture, for a diverse people, a moment within the passing of historical and industrial time when Ireland challenged the authority of, and was curtailed by, the era of the British Empire. The sources of the images are drawn from the repository of Magic Lantern slides and glass plate negatives held in photographic archives throughout Ireland. A large portion of this selection - the images from the Mason Collection and some from the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland - are previously unpublished. Others - from the Welch Collection, the Lawrence and Poole Collections, University College Dublin Archives, the Architectural Archive of Ireland and the photographic archives of the Irish Examiner - are familiar to some and will be new to others. The Other Ireland endeavours to stretch the canvas, and to present a less familiar perspective on those turbulent times of transition.' From the Introduction This unique collection of evocative and stunning photographs presents an alternative view of Ireland from the dawn of the age of Irish photography to the end of British rule. Instead of the familiar pastoral scenes, we get an insight into the lives of factory workers, of agricultural labourers, and into the reality of evictions and industrial strikes. From bourgeois splendour to grinding poverty, The Other Ireland provides an invaluable insight into Irish history.

Mary Jones is a social scientist, author and director of ArkHive Productions, a company that researches, develops and produces challenging but accessible radio and television for public domain broadcast in Irish and in English.