Most people won’t be quite as interested in Old Ireland in Colour as I am. In fact, I pre-ordered it, and I was even more interested in the book when I read the introduction about the work of John Breslin and Sarah-Anne Buckley.

This collection of photographs features color restorations of images from all walks of Irish life throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. It covers everything from the chaos of the Irish Civil War to the beauty of the country itself.

John Breslin is a professor at NUI Galway where he has taught engineering, computer science and entrepreneurship. He used a combination of artificial intelligence technology and historical resource to colorize over 170 photographs. In order to get colors right, he and Buckley often consulted family members of people in the photos or British military uniform exports to get the correct colors of the uniforms. Their opening essay admits that some object to colorizing photographs, but they believe it’s a valuable contribution to the study of Irish history and life.

Sarah-Anne Buckley is a lecturer in history at NUI Galway and President of the Women’s History Association of Ireland. She is co-founder of the Irish Centre for the Histories of Labour and Class. The combination of Breslin’s photographs and Buckley’s historical background behind each picture makes for a fascinating collection. The two not only provide the story behind the people in the pictures or the scenery, but they also include information about some of the photographers, many of them women. One photograph, “Woman Baking” is by Mary Alice Young. The comment says that between 1890 and 1915, Young is credited with over 1000 photographs, making her one of the most prolific female photographers.

The authors break their book down by themes; “The Irish Revolution”, “Society and Culture”, “Women and Children”, “The Irish Abroad”, and “Scenic Ireland”. Although the entire book was fascinating, I was particularly interested in “The Irish Revolution” and “Society and Culture”. The section on “The Irish Revolution” included photos of the leaders of the Easter Rising, as well as the accounts of what happened to them.

There are photographs of the RMS Titanic leaving Belfast on Sept. 2, 1912. There is one of the mass burials in Cobh, County Cork after the sinking of the Lusitania. One hundred ninety-three victims are buried there. On a lighter note, the book includes fascinating photos of crowds and school children.

I’ll admit Old Ireland in Colour is not a lighthearted book. The country has a tragic history, and it’s reflected in many of the photos in the book. But, I admire the work that Breslin and Buckley did to bring these photographs to life.

Old Ireland in Colour by John Breslin & Sarah-Anne Buckley. Merrion Press, 2020. ISBN 9781785373701 (hardcover), 304p.

FTC Full Disclosure – I bought a copy of the book, which was not available in the U.S. until several months ago.

Because two of my passions are books and Irish music, I’m combining them with this video of the song, “Grace”. There’s a reason. There are colorized photos of both Joseph Plunkett and Grace Gifford in the book. Several of the pictures of the streets of Dublin after the Easter Rising that are used in the video are colorized in this book. And, “Grace” is a tragic love song as much as a story from Irish history.