www.curator.ie - Oiche Chultuir an Daingean - 2010 (2)
R4720: Cad is Aimn Dom?
a short essay in images by Ciaran Walsh, www.curator.ie, 2010
Oíche Chultúir An Daingean agus ‘O Bhalla Go Balla’ le Andrew Duggan.
Fís-aiste gearr ar stereotypes Eireannaigh a chlódh idir 1902 agus 1910 i gcartaí poist agus a leithéid.
Ó ‘Image’nation’ le Ciarán Walsh, 2008
A short ‘photo’ essay on Irish stereotypes that were created in postcards and other publications between 1902 and 1914. The essay is derived from ‘Image’nation’, an unpublished Masters thesis by Ciarán Walsh, 2008.
Background / Context
‘R 4720 – Real Auld Style / The Real Thing’ has also been published as ‘The ‘Galway Man,’ ‘An Irish Farmer’ and ‘An Gioblach’ (the shabby one). It was possibly taken by Robert French for Lawrence and the original plate glass negative is held as part of the Lawrence Collection in the National Photographic Archive, the National Library, in Dublin. It was included in a series of images of ‘real’ Irish life published by Lawrence and sold to postcard publishers. Changes in post office regulations in 1902 created a market for the ‘modern’ postcard (pictorial front and divided verso) and billions of postcards were published in a ‘craze’ that lasted until the outbreak of World War 1 in 1914. Many of the postcards of real life in Ireland were printed in Saxony. ‘R 4720 – Real Auld Style / The Real Thing’ was copied and translated it increasingly stereotypical images of Paddy the farmer during this time. Although the style of dress represented was virtually abandoned by the time the photo was taken, it had become established as the quintessential dress of the native Irishman in illustrations published from the middle of the 19th C., the precursor of more ‘accurate’ or ‘authentic’ images taken by photographers in the west.
‘R4720 | Cad is Ainm Dom’ contrasts the stereotyping of Irish folk with the touching personal message written by Eileen on the back of a postcard of Irish scenery that was published around 1902. It end with a photo of a father and his sons after they were evicted in Coolgreaney, Co Wexford.
‘R4720 | Cad is Ainm Dom’ was created by Ciaran Walsh, www.curator.ie for Andrew Duggan who has created ‘O Bhalla Go Balla’, a programme of outdoor projections in An Daingean | Dingle for Oiche Cultúr|Culture Night, 2010. Oiche Chultúir is supported by Ealaíon na Gaeltachta, a partnnership of Udarás na Gaeltachta and An Chomhairle Ealaíon | The Arts Council.
Bigí Linn.
