New exhibition contains over 100 rare old photographs from Mayo
A photograph taken at Belmullet Races in the early 1900s by Jack Leonard. His grandson Anthony is trying to identify the people in the photograph.
Aras Inis Gluaire in Belmullet is hosting a fascinating exhibition of photographs for the month of August.
The photographs are part of the priceless Leonard Collection, which dates back to the early decades of the twentieth century. The man who took the images was Bofeenaun native Jack (JJ) Leonard, who was one of the few photographer operating in Mayo at the time. Leonard had a studio in Crossmolina and another in Belmullet, which meant he took many photographs in the Erris region. These form part of the exhibition, which has been curated by Leonard's grandson, Anthony Leonard.
However, one of the objectives of the new exhibition is to try to source images from Jack Leonard that may be held in private collections.
"My objective is to further build out the collection of Jack Leonard photos with images that don't reside currently within the collection," explains Anthony. "There are four images on display boards outside Blacksod light house station of the Inniskea islands by Jack that I don't have in the collection as of yet."
Anthony also wants to identify people within photos so that we know more about these people, their lives and the times.
"I also want to identify events and their importance at that time and now in preserving our local history. I want to encourage people to contact me - or drop into Aras Inis Gluaire between Tuesday and Friday, August 13th to 16th, with old photos taken by Jack Leonard."
The exhibition contains 115 images and runs until end of August. On Wednesday, August 14th, at 5:30pm, Anthony will deliver a talk in the centre about the photographs on display.
