This historic image, taken at the World Ploughing Championships in Killarney close on 70 years ago, features in a striking exhibition of photographs currently running at the National Photographic Archive in Dublin’s Temple Bar.
The ploughing event was held in Gortroe, Fossa on 8th October 1954 when competitors from 13 countries challenged for the championship which was won by Hugh Barr, from Coleraine, Co Derry.
With local entrepreneur Michael (Mackey) O’Shea spearheading the organising committee, it was only the second time the World Ploughing Championships were held and this ahead of its time aerial photograph shows the stalls promoting and selling agricultural goods at the site.
The big 1954 event featured a spectacular parade of tractors through the town the day before the two-day competition commenced with flagpoles of all the competing nations on display.
Wherever the international competition is held, it is established tradition for the host venue to erect a cairn of peace to mark the event but, for a variety of reasons, that didn’t happen in Killarney in 1954 when ploughing experts from throughout the world gathered to compete at the venue in Gortroe.
But, thanks to the initiative of the Killarney Valley Classic and Vintage Club, the cairn was finally commissioned, created by local man Bernard O’Sullivan and unveiled on Mission Road – opposite St Mary’s Cathedral – in 2019.
The analogue People and Places photographic exhibition includes images which give a glimpse into Irish history and the evolution of photography and, in all, it comprises 50 snapshots taken between 1858 and 2001, representing the age of analogue photography in Ireland.
Photographs on display include early forms such as salt paper print and stereo-pair up to more contemporary photography.
Picture: Valerie O’Sullivan
Another featured image of Kerry interest is a dramatic action shot taken at the Dublin v Kerry All-Ireland Senior football final in Croke Park in 1979 and it shows Kerry’s Sean Walsh leaping majestically into the air to outfield Dublin’s Brian Mullins.
Another photograph was taken at the Gap of Dunloe, Killarney and it features a young woman, by the name of Bridget Sweeney, who became known as the Gap Girl. it is part of a series of seven portraits of local women who sold refreshments at popular tourist sites Killarney.
The exhibition will run until 2025 and phase one will feature framed photographs from 20 of popular collections. The images selected speak to the diversity of Ireland, with photographs representing almost every county.
The exhibition’s curator, Sara Smyth, will host a free tour of the exhibition on Thursday, August 17 from 1.00pm to 1.40pm and no booking is required. To check out more photographs which are part of NLI’s collections, log onto www.nli.ie.
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