The following Q&A with County Clare-born actor Kirby Simone (Oonagh) in Sixteen Films' biopic "Jimmy's Hall") is part of the studio's Production Notes for the film, shot in the story's actual locales in County Leitrim. The notes,…

One could argue that freelance photographer Joss Barratt has done as much to inform movie goers about Ken Loach’s past 20 years of work as the noted British filmmaker himself. Barratt’s photography is seen far and wide, perhaps by millions, across newspapers, magazines, on movie house walls and windows, and across the Internet, by far more people than ever get around to seeing Loach’s provocative and…

Photographer Darren McLoughlin has lived in fair Dublin for 15 years and says walking, and more walking, is how he’s really gotten to know his city.…

The video below, which I produced, spotlights my coffee-table book on Ireland, "Ireland in Word and Image," on sale at Amazon, Rizzoli Bookstore and Rizzoli…

Let's take a look back to the late 1800s and early 1900s at old pictures of the rural countryside and city life throughout various parts of Ireland. (Top image: Donkey cart…

The Desmond Fitzgerald Photographs, a stunning collection of 179 photos is now available to view on the University College Dublin Digital Library website.  This collection of photographic prints forms part of the papers of Desmond FitzGerald. The majority of these photographs arise out of the…

This is a postcard of William Street in Galway City, circa 1930. The keen eye will see "DUBLIN TIME" underneath the clock at Dillon's Jewellers (the building on the right of the photo with the striped awning). In the past, Galway, like other Irish towns, operated according to local time, which was relative to its distance from Greenwich. Dublin time was twenty-five minutes…

Hello, my fellow Wild Geese! 

Just wanted to post a quick note to congratulate Jeanette Nic Lochlainn on winning a set of four drink coasters as part of the "Bring a Pal Home" competition here.  Jeanette's name was drawn at random from among all the members who…

I recently did a photo shoot in aid of a wonderful charity called Forgotten Horses Ireland (www.ForgottenHorses.com).  This organisation is strictly volunteer-run -- that is, every cent donated or raised by the charity goes directly to caring for these beautiful animals ...…

I just recently came across these lovely colourised photos from circa 1930 which depict life as it was for most folks in Connemara and in the Claddagh area of Galway Town.  What's striking, to me, is that the lifestyle shown would not have been much different even 100 years (or more) earlier!  The conditions of rural Ireland all the…

In June of 2013, Chetham's LIbrary in Manchester, England published an album, containing about 120 excellent prints of coastal scenes of rural Galway. Many of them were dated to 1879.  Founded in 1653, Chetham’s Library in Long Millgate, Manchester, is the oldest public library in…

If you haven't done so already, take a few minutes to flip through the photographs posted here by members of The Wild Geese community.  There is quite a variety of photos, ranging from landscapes to historical figures -- both in "The Motherland" and from points across the globe which have been touched by the Irish diaspora.

We want to encourage…

Just wanted to share this little video montage of some of my favourite shots I captured in 2012.  I'll do another one of these at the end of 2013.  The beautiful music is from the great uilleann piper, Davy Spillane.  If you have any questions about the location of any of the images, just leave me a comment below. 

I really appreciate The Wild Geese encouraging the promotion of Irish culture, history, art, etc.  Hope you enjoy this, and thanks for watching!  ~…

Courtesy of Michael Hammerson

by Michael…