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Category Archives: Journalism

Ciarán Walsh joins RTÉ Brainstorm as a contributor

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Posted by Ciaran Walsh on August 28, 2020 – 3:35 pm
Filed under Comment, History of Anthropology, Journalism

Ciarán Walsh has published his first article on Brainstorm, an online platform for researchers and academic that is manage by RTÉ.

The article asks if readers have ever thought about the political significance of the shape of their heads and goes on to make a connection between Victorian anthropology in Ireland and facial recognition systems in use today, killing a couple of sacred cows along the way.

For More:

https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2020/0811/1158475-skull-measuring-head-hunter-alfred-haddon-history-ireland/

one editor, two curators & one new history of anthropology

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Posted by Ciaran Walsh on June 20, 2020 – 12:06 pm
Filed under Advocacy and Activism, Anthropology | Curatorial Projects, Journalism

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/the-victorian-curator-who-railed-against-racism-and-imperialism-39297723.html

Today, the Irish Independent publishes a segment of my research on the skull-measuring-business in Ireland in the 1890s. Commissioned by Jon Smith, Editor of the Review at the Irish Independent, this article looks back at a column that Alfred Cort Haddon wrote for the newspaper in 1893 and 1894, when it traded as The Daily Irish Independent.

Haddon worked as a curator in the Natural History Museum in Dublin and, at first glance, he seemed to be writing a general guide to the collections in the Museum for the readers of the newspaper. However, a closer reading reveals a wonderfully subversive allegory that anticipates the Black Lives Matter movement and Tribal Voice, the 2020 anti-genocide online campaign co-ordinated by Survival International.

It is fitting that the current version of The Daily Irish Independent should publish this piece and, in the process, completely subvert the history of anthropology in Ireland.

So, to participate in a small moment of history, go out and buy the Irish Independent today.

Jane W. Shackleton: Pioneering Photographer and Unsung Hero of the Gaelic Revival

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Posted by Ciaran Walsh on October 28, 2015 – 8:12 pm
Filed under Journalism, Photography, Research

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Jane W.  Shackleton’s singular contribution to the Gaelic Revival has been seriously undervalued. Ciarán Walsh takes another look at the work of this pioneering photographer. In his latest post on the Ballymaclinton blog Walsh questions why Shackleton’s career as a pioneer of social documentary photography been seriously undervalued.

 

 

Appalling vistas: TG4 broadcasts series on social documentary photography in Ireland in the 1890s

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Posted by Ciaran Walsh on October 24, 2015 – 3:37 pm
Filed under Curatorial Projects, Journalism, Photography, Research

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About 10 years go I came across this photograph. The caption suggests that it was taken during the Famine of 1845-9 in Ireland.  It wasn’t. True, it is very similar to the scenes recorded in cabins throughout the west of Ireland and graphic illustrations of such scenes were published in illustrated newspapers at the time. There is no record, however, of any photograph of people dying of starvation in the 1845-9 famine.  Indeed a photograph like this would have been impossible in the early stages of photography – invented less than a decade before the famine. As a result he photograph has been dismissed by some people as a fake, the harsh pool of light suggesting a studio staging.

I set out to look for the original and test its authenticity. I never found it, but I found the next best thing – the original document in which the photograph was first published.  The photograph is entitled ‘A Sick Family Carraroe’ and is one of 18 photographs that were published in a pamphlet entitled  ‘Relief of Distress in the West and South of Ireland, 1898.’ The photographs were taken in April during an inspection of conditions in Connemara by Thomas L. Esmonde, Inspector of the Manchester Committee. He was reacting to reports of famine in Connemara, what locals call the Second Famine or Gorta Beag. He inspected a dozen houses in which he found people lying on the floor, covered with rags and old sacks and barely able to move from a combination of influenza and hunger.

The search for the photograph became the basis of an idea for a TV series on social documentary photography or, to put it another way, a social history of documentary photography in Ireland in the 19th century. I pitched the idea to a producer and a broadcaster in 2011 and funding was eventually secured from the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland in 2014 for a six part series based on my research. TG4 will begin  broadcasting Trid an Lionsa or ‘Through the Lens’ tomorrow Sunday 25 October 2015.

I haven’t been involved in in the production itself, just the research into historical social documentary photography and the people who work in this area. This material has been “translated into television” by Cathal Watters (Oíche na Gaoithe Móire) and follows the TG4 controversial format of presenter driven, on-the-road info-tainment. (http://wp.me/p56Bmf-5g).

I have no idea what to expect. Like a colleague I will be watching from behind the couch … hoping!  It’ll be interesting to see how the balance between a social history of documentary photography and ‘factual’ entertainment works out. I know some key “voices” were excluded but that is the unenviable task of a producer. Either way it promises be an intriguing televisual event and, at the very least, it should create an awareness of the rich resource that exists in photographic archives and collections around the country.

 

For more images / Comment see: Ballymaclinton, The Town that Time Forgot

 

 

In memory of Mick ‘The Iron Man’ Murphy

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Posted by Ciaran Walsh on September 12, 2015 – 6:02 pm
Filed under art, Exhibition, Journalism, Photography

 

Mick 'The Iron Man' Murphy by Barry McCarthy from the exhibition 'Blood, Sweat and Gears,' 2008

Mick ‘The Iron Man’ Murphy by Barry McCarthy from the exhibition ‘Blood, Sweat and Gears,’ 2008.

 

I have just learned of the death of Mick Murphy of Cahersiveen in Co. Kerry. Mick was known fondly as ‘The Iron Man’ because of his exploits in a celebrated bicycle race in 1958. Aidan O’Connor, writing in The Kerryman newspaper described Mick’s extraordinary Life:

Mick made a living as a spalpeen and a circus performer. After winning the 1958 Rás, Mick returned to Kerry to work in local quarry, breaking stones with a crowbar and sledge hammer. All the while, the Iron Man was completing daily training routines of 100-mile cycles.

Aged just 27 years, Mick Murphy retired and took the boat to England where he worked as a builder, road maker, a carnival act, boxer and a wrestler.

Mick’s training was as unconventional as his lifestyle. Having read about the important of a high protein diet, Mick drank cow’s blood and ate raw meat, well aware that this was regarded with “horror” by the people of Cahersiveen. The legend that was the ‘Iron Man’ was the starting point for an exhibition that celebrated the 50th anniversary of his victory in the Rás in 1958. The exhibition consisted of still photography by Barry McCarthy interviews recorded by film maker Chris Hurley. The impact of that exhibition is captured in Sean Mac an tSithig’s report (above) which was recorded for the main evening news.

 

 

Mick Murphy was one of the most remarkable people I worked with in Siamsa, a true folk hero. Following the broadcast of Seán’s film a lot of men who had gone through similar experiences came to the gallery and spoke movingly of their lives as emigrants and their love of cycling.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

 

 

 

 

TV series on photography in Ireland developed by www.curator.ie & Sibéal Teo for TG4

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Posted by Ciaran Walsh on July 3, 2014 – 3:35 pm
Filed under Comment, Film, Heritage, Journalism, Photography

 

Uploaded by www.curator.ie: a reproduction of a photograph of an impoverish family huddled in cabin in Connemara in 1898. It is entitled "A starving Irish family from Carraroe, County Galway." (http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/sadlier/irish/starvati.htm) from an orig. It was traced to a pamphlet published by the Mansion House committee in 1898.

A starving Irish family from Carraroe, County Galway during the Famine . (Source: University of Virginia)

 

About 10 years go I came across this photograph. The caption suggests that it was taken during the Famine of 1845-9 in Ireland.  It wasn’t. True, it is very similar to the scenes recorded in cabins throughout the west of Ireland and graphic illustrations of such scenes were published in illustrated newspapers at the time. There is no record, however, of any photograph of people dying of starvation in the 1845-9 famine.  Indeed a photograph like this would have been impossible in the early stages of photography – invented less than a decade before the famine. As a result he photograph has been dismissed by some people as a fake, the harsh pool of light suggesting a studio staging.

 

I set out to look for the original and test its authenticity. I never found it, but I found the next best thing – the original document in which the photograph was first published.  The photograph is entitled ‘A Sick Family Carraroe’ and is one of 18 photographs that were published in a pamphlet entitled  ‘Relief of Distress in the West and South of Ireland, 1898.’ The photographs were taken in April during an inspection of conditions in Connemara by Thomas L. Esmonde, Inspector of the Manchester Committee. He was reacting to reports of famine in Connemara, what locals call the Second Famine or Gorta Beag. He inspected a dozen houses in which he found people lying on the floor, covered with rags and old sacks and barely able to move from a combination of influenza and hunger.

 

The search for the photograph became the basis of an idea for a TV series on social documentary photography or, to put it another way, a social history of documentary photography in Ireland in the 19th century. I pitched the idea to a producer and a broadcaster in 2011 and funding was eventually secured from the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland in 2014 for a six part series based on my research. TG4 will begin  broadcasting Trid an Lionsa or ‘Through the Lens’ tomorrow Sunday 25 October 2015.

 

I haven’t been involved in in the production itself, just the research into historical social documentary photography and the people who work in this area. This material has been “translated into television” by Cathal Watters (Oíche na Gaoithe Móire) and follows the TG4 controversial format of presenter driven, on-the-road info-tainment. (Lost in Translation).

 

I have no idea what to expect. Like a colleague I will be watching from behind the couch … hoping!  It’ll be interesting to see how the balance between a social history of documentary photography and ‘factual’ entertainment works out. The reliance on off-the-cuff interviews rather than scripted narrative is a risky business in general Read Full Article. It suits some formats but I don’t know about a documentary on 19th century photography, with it’s intricate social, political and historical contexts and plots. I know some key “voices” were excluded but that is the unenviable task of a producer. Dropping a key commentator on the history of photography because, apparently, there were already enough English speakers is a bit odd though.  Either way it promises be an intriguing televisual event and, at the very least, it should create an awareness of the rich resource that exists in photographic archives and collections around the country.

 

For more images / Comment see: Ballymaclinton, The Town that Time Forgot

 

Getting into politics: Ciarán Walsh writes feature on local elections for Irish Independent Weekend Magazine 17.05.2014

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Posted by Ciaran Walsh on May 21, 2014 – 10:06 am
Filed under Comment, Journalism, Politics

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A major feature by Ciarán Walsh on local elections 2014 in Ireland is published in the Irish Independent Weekend Magazine edited by Katie Byrne. The article looks at young candidates who are competing in the elections for he first time and questions whether this is a response to widespread disenchantment with the political establishment and, whether a new generation of politically smart young people can challenge the status quo through the use of social media and other techniques. The article is based on ten interviews carried out 2 weeks prior to the election and was published the weekend before voting takes place.

Jpeg of a major feature by Ciarán Walsh on local elections 2014 in Ireland is published in the Irish Independent Weekend Magazine edited by Katie Byrne. The looks at young candidates who are competing in the elections for he first time and questions whether this is a response to widespread disenchantment with the political establishment and, whether a new generation of politically smart young people can challenge the status quo through the use of social media and other techniques. The article is based on ten interviews carried out 2 weeks prior to the election and published the weekend before voting takes place.A major feature by Ciarán Walsh on local elections 2014 in Ireland is published in the Irish Independent Weekend Magazine edited by Katie Byrne. The looks at young candidates who are competing in the elections for he first time and questions whether this is a response to widespread disenchantment with the political establishment and, whether a new generation of politically smart young people can challenge the status quo through the use of social media and other techniques. The article is based on ten interviews carried out 2 weeks prior to the election and published the weekend before voting takes place.

Jpeg of the feature writen by Ciarán Walsh for the Irish Independent Weekend Magazine, edited by Katie Byrne.

“Ciarán Walsh reports…” Feature on Cloughjordan Eco-Village, Irish Independent, 01 February 2014

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Posted by Ciaran Walsh on January 31, 2014 – 6:02 pm
Filed under Comment, Journalism

<img class=" wp-image-3253 alignnone" title="Residents of Cloughjordan Eco-Village in 2014" alt="Cloughjordan Eco-Village: this photo shows a large goup of residents gathered in the village square on a bright, cold day in January2014. The photo was taken by Liam Burke Press 22 Limerick for an article Commissioned by Irish Independent Weekend Editor Katie Byrne, 'On the edge of Utopia' examines the life of Eco-Villagers in Cloughjordan in County Tipperary. Since the crash of 2007 this community has defied the odds and built the Cloughjordan Eco-Village, a template for sustainable living in rural Ireland. Ciarán Walsh is the reporter project management web app.” src=”https://www.curator.ie/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Cloughjordan-Eco-600.jpg” width=”600″ height=”525″ srcset=”https://www.curator.ie/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Cloughjordan-Eco-600.jpg 600w, https://www.curator.ie/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Cloughjordan-Eco-600-300×262.jpg 300w” sizes=”(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px” />

 

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Commissioned by Irish Independent ‘Weekend’ Editor Katie Byrne, ‘On the edge of Utopia’ examines the life of Eco-Villagers in Cloughjordan in County Tipperary. Since the crash of 2007 this community has defied the odds and built the Cloughjordan Eco-Village, a template for sustainable living in rural Ireland. Ciarán Walsh examines how they are getting on.

In all good newsagents and online on Saturday 2 February 2014.

 

Photo by

Liam Burke, Press 22, Limerick

 

 

Major feature on Anthropology by Ciarán Walsh in Irish Independent Newspaper

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Posted by Ciaran Walsh on January 4, 2014 – 1:14 pm
Filed under Anthropology, Journalism

 Солнечный водонагреватель своими руками

 

 

 

 

The ‘ Irish Headhunter’ exhibition organised by www.curator.ie got a remarkable response from anthropologists working in Ireland. The project was featured in the Irish Journal of Anthropology and the exhibition was shown in the National University of Ireland Maynooth (NUIM) which has the only Anthropology Department in the state.   This switched the focus from the 1890s to the present and, in this feature commissioned by the Irish independent Newspaper editor Katie Byrne, Ciarán Walsh explores the role of contemporary Irish anthropologists. It features extracts from interviews with Mark Maguire, Head of Anthropology in NUIM; Nicola Reynolds, President of the  Anthropology Society NUIM; Fiona Murphy, Dublin City University School of Business and, Patrick Slevin of Applied Research for Connected Health (ARCH). Each of the contributors outlines what they see as the main challenges facing Irish society in 2014 from an anthropological perspective.

 

See: http://irishindependent.newspaperdirect.com/epaper/viewer.aspx (Weekend Magazine)

 

 

 

‘The Man Who Shot Peig’ and Other Stories from the oldest press photography agency in Ireland

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Posted by Ciaran Walsh on June 26, 2013 – 12:26 pm
Filed under Exhibition, Journalism, Photography

The photograph shows Daniel MacMonagle (centre) in the Gap of Dunloe in 1913 with photographers Louis Anthony and Franz Haselbeck. Ciarán Walsh / www,curator.ie is currently working on a piece for the Irish Independent on 100 years of photography by the MacMonagles of Killarney. A centenary exhibition opens in the Library in Killarney on 6 July 2013.

Daniel MacMonagle (centre) in the Gap of Dunloe in 1913 with photographers Louis Anthony and Franz Haselbeck.

 

Ciarán Walsh / www,curator.ie is currently working with Don MacMonagle on a piece for the Irish Independent on 100 years of photography by the MacMonagles of Killarney. A centenary exhibition opens in the Library in Killarney on 6 July 2013.

 

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Blogging resumes on Ballymaclinton: An Irish giant, 24 stolen skulls, one colonial legacies project and a slave owner named Berkeley.



Is the TCD statement on the stolen skulls of Inishbofin a missed opportunity?



Inishbofin Islanders demand repatriation of remains held in TCD



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