Now available online: A Valuable Visual History of a Key Period in Irish History
This collection of 179 photographs from the Desmond FitzGerald Papers covers the:
• Easter Rising, 1916 and War of Independence, 1919-1921
• Civil War, 1922-1923 (majority)
View the collection in UCD Digital Library at https://digital.ucd.ie/view/ivrla:30600
This collection of photographs, mainly from the studio of W.D. Hogan, came to UCD Archives in the papers of Desmond FitzGerald. As Minister for Foreign Affairs, FitzGerald was responsible for the operation of the Free State Publicity Department, directed by Seán Lester; and it is safe to assume most of the photographs in this collection originated from the work of the Department.
While there are small groups of photographs relating to the Easter Rising and the War of Independence – the photographs of Sackville Street/O’Connell Street in the immediate aftermath of the Rising are particularly redolent and atmospheric – the majority of the photographs were taken during the Civil War and are a uniquely valuable visual diary of that most unhappy period of modern Irish history.
Read a feature about this collection by Seamus Helferty of UCD Archives in the latest UCD Library Newsletter at https://www.ucd.ie/library/news_publicity/newsletters/