© Kevin O'Farrell Photographer.

Bathing Places, Ireland. 1985 - 88

Published by Café Royal Books 2019

I first became aware of traditional Bathing places around Ireland as a photographic project, when working as a contributor to Ireland a week in the Life of a Nation book publication, organised by Syd Shelton and Red Saunders in August 1985.

My contribution for the book was a series on the Forty-foot in Sandycove, Co. Dublin. The Forty Foot a gentlemen’s only bathing/swimming spot on the south side of Dublin Bay, beside and overlooked by the James Joyce Tower.

My Grandad used to swim in the Forty- Foot all-year-round until he was in his late eighties, so there was a connection to be explored and an aspect of Irish life at leisure not normally seen.

What is now known as wild swimming had been very popular around the coast of Ireland for many years, but no one had paid it any attention, except possibly the Forty Foot in Dublin, famed as a male-only bathing place and often the men would swim naked, in a strong Catholic Ireland it was interesting to find. It seemed to me if one was naked, or just bathing togs, religion, politics and other constraints of the day were not visible or important, people could be themselves and enjoy life, hopefully, some of this fun shows through in my work.

I applied and was successful in being awarded an Irish Arts Council Visual Arts Bursary to continue and expand the project photographing all over Ireland, over a two year period (1986-87) The bursary enabled me to spend time working on the project, not something to fit in, where possible, between commercial assignments. resulting in a solo photographic touring Exhibition in Ireland and was really pleased to have the work exhibited as solo shows at the Side Gallery, in Newcastle, UK in 1989 and in the same year the Corner House in Manchester.

A number of the photographs was published by Café Royal Books in 2019.

© Kevin O'Farrell Photographer.

Published by Café Royal Books 2019

© Kevin O'Farrell Photographer.

Whiddy Island at the head of Bantry Bay in the Heart of West Cork, Ireland. Is approximately 5.6km long and 2.4km wide.

The Island population has fallen from 450 in the 1880s to around 20 today (2022) when these photographs were taken in 1981 the population was around 54, mainly engaged in fishing and small-scale farming.

These photographs were taken 2 years after the Whiddy Island Disaster, or the Betelgeuse incident is considered to be one of the worst maritime disasters in Irish history. On Monday, 8 January 1979, a French tanker, the Betelgeuse, was unloading a cargo of crude oil at the terminal when it exploded. The blast and subsequent fire killed 50 people.

Historically, the island was strategically important as it protected Bantry Bay and the bay's deepwater anchorage. As a result, the British authorities built fortified batteries on the island in Napoleonic times. This was to prevent a repeat of the arrival of a French Armada force at Bantry Bay – as had occurred in 1796.

In the last months of World War I, Whiddy became the site of a US naval air station. The US Navy's Air Wing established a seaplane base on the eastern end of the island; this became operational on 25 September 1918 when the first two Curtiss Model H planes arrived. These aircrews patrolled shipping lanes around Fastnet Rock.

The photographs show the gentle way of life getting back to normal from the horrors of the explosion and the world’s media attention.

© Kevin O'Farrell Photographer.

Middle Calf Island is an approx 64-acre uninhabited private island, situated off the West Cork coast, between Schull and Cape Clear Island. Located between West Calf and East Calf Islands, in the Middle of Roaringwater Bay.

Sheep are a perfect animal to craze the grass and keep invasive weeds at bay, they are free to roam the Island without any fear of predators, and there is plenty of grass and water all year round, but they do need to be managed and cared for.

It is a stunningly beautiful wild Island, it features the ruins of four dwellings and outbuildings and many stone walls.

The island does not have a pier but has beautiful beaches and a number of small lakes are dotted around the island.

In the past, six families lived a self-sufficient life on the island and a school was set up there in 1835, which was also attended by pupils from neighbouring Islands. It would have been an extremely hard life, in the winter months during gales they would have been cut off from the mainland for weeks at a time.

In 1841, the population of the island was 39. The last family left the island in 1937.

Further photographs were taken on a trip out to collect sheep on the 3rd of June 2023.

Photographs ©Kevin O’Farrell Photographer

An adventure, to Middle Calf Island in Roaringwater Bay, West Cork, to select six ponies from a herd of Kerry Bog Ponies to resettle them on Mannin Island at the top of the Bay, with Jeremy Irons, Eamon Wycherley, and Charlie Crowley owner of the Island.

Middle Calf Island is an approx 64-acre uninhabited private island, situated off the West Cork coast, between Schull and Cape Clear Island. Located between West Calf and East Calf Islands in the middle of Roaringwater Bay.

Kerry Bog ponies are a perfect animal to craze the grass, with their lightweight and small hoofs cause no damage to the ground they graze on, they are free to roam the Island without any fear of predators, and there is plenty of grass and water all year round, but they do need and are managed and cared for. ( previous to the Kerry Bog ponies sheep were kept on the Island see my photographs taken in 2009, https://www.kevinofarrellphotographer.com/work#/sheep-middle-calf-island/

It is a stunningly beautiful wild Island, it features the ruins of four dwellings and outbuildings and many stone walls. The island does not have a pier but has beautiful beaches and a number of small lakes are dotted around the island.

In the past, six families lived a self-sufficient life on the island and a school was set up there in 1835, which was also attended by pupils from neighbouring Islands. It would have been an extremely hard life, in the winter months during gales they would have been cut off from the mainland for weeks at a time.

In 1841, the population of the island was 39. The last family left the island in 1937.

Further photographs were taken on a trip out to collect ponies and sheep on the 3rd of June 2023.

Photographs ©Kevin O’Farrell Photographer

Danny Murphy peacefully passed away after a tragic accident with his loving family at his side. These photographs show his last journey by boat down the River Ilen and out to the Islands followed by his family, friends, and neighbours.

There is a special relationship between Islanders and people of the sea, they share common isolation and risk in their everyday lives, an understanding of bad weather, tides, and the changing seasons.

There is an unspoken bond that only becomes evident when a tragedy happens, the community rallies around. It is a fitting tribute from friends and neighbours to escort Danny on his voyage home.

Departing from O’Donovans boatyard Oldcourt, leading the flotilla of boats was Skibbereen Rowing club which Danny was a founding member, it was spectacular how the local community came out to say goodbye, every small pier or road along the river people gathered to pay their last respects.

It was a privilege to witness the final voyage of Danny Murphy down the Ilen River from Oldcourt to Heir Island and finally into Cunnamore pier on Friday evening. (05-11-2021).

Fair winds and following sea’s Danny on your next voyage!

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

© Kevin O'Farrell Photographer.

Published by Café Royal Books 2019.

‘Kevin O'Farrell, Belfast Center, British Army searches civilians, "Northern Ireland" series, 1979 Irish Kevin O'Farrell, barely finished studying in Newport, on a documentary photography course, got his first assignment. Now magazine sent him to Belfast to document a day in the life of British soldiers stationed in the city due to the tense situation between the Irish and British. The 19-year-old photographer has captured what is most difficult to convey with photography: the ubiquitous atmosphere of tension. You can see photos of Kevin O'Farrell in MuFo as part of the exhibition "See: Britain. British documentary photography since the 1960s ”. The exhibition, co-organized by MuFo and the Institut für Kunstdokumentation und Szenografie, will be on display from June 16 to September 18, 2022’

Museum of the History of Photography, Kraków.

© Kevin O'Farrell Photographer.

East Skeam island in Roaringwater Bay, once had a small but thriving community but was abandoned in 1958.

The former owner was Lord Townshend of Whitehall who bequeathed the house to the local Barry family. The population peaked in 1841 at 27.

The name derives from St Céim who had built a church on West Skeam dated to around the fifth century. The uninhabited Islands in the Bay are perfect for grazing animals providing an extra source of fodder all year round.

Hegarty’s Boat Yard

The Last surviving wooden boatyard in Ireland, exists in a world in which is fast disappearing, skills and traditions which have been handed down from one generation to the next, makes this project an important Historical / heritage record for the future. No other yard in Ireland has produced such a range of hand-built wooden boats and revived the lost fishing yawls of West Cork, it is the last in a long tradition.

The project is a celebration of all traditional boat builders. I have photographed in a traditional approach using both colour and black and white. Not one photograph can sum up the whole process, I try to capture the essence of what people do as part of a narrative building into a series of photographs. As a photographer I observe how events unfold in front of me and do not direct in any way, reacting and recording what happens. For the photographs to work, they have to clearly communicate my interest in what I was seeing at the moment of capture to me and the viewer. In all my photographs the subject knows I am photographing them, I find when people are involved in an activity they easily forget I am there and I can work away without interfering, more time is spent standing around awaiting for events to unfold than actually taking photographs.

Please click on the main menu for Hegarty’s Boatyard Book sales to buy your copy !

Kinvarra and Roundstone Co Galway.

© Kevin O’Farrell Photographer

© Kevin O'Farrell Photographer.

© Kevin O'Farrell Photographer.

© Kevin O'Farrell Photographer.

© Kevin O’Farrell Photographer

© Kevin O'Farrell Photographer.

© Kevin O'Farrell Photographer.

© Kevin O'Farrell Photographer.

© Kevin O'Farrell Photographer.

© Kevin O’Farrell Photographer

© Kevin O'Farrell Photographer.

© Kevin O’Farrell Photographer

Henwood and Dean Boatbuilders UK

© Kevin O’Farrell Photographer

Master Craftsman Alain Froment Uilleann Pipe maker Co Kerry 1993

© Kevin O’Farrell Photographer

© Kevin O’Farrell Photographer