Nearly 100 rarely seen 19th century photos being added to the Breslin Archive

3rd March 2021: the Breslin Archive has today shared the first half of a recently acquired and newly digitised photographic collection consisting of nearly 100 photographs taken during the 1890s of people, stately homes, houses, fishing ports and landscapes, mainly around County Waterford, Ireland. The collection is believed to be the work of the famed Poole Studio of Waterford, run by the family of Arthur and Elizabeth Poole.

This collection of rarely seen historical photographs includes views of Faithlegg, Cheekpoint, cyclists, a Mrs Bonniewell on horseback, Ellie and Annie Russel, Major Cuffe at Duncannon in County Wexford, a snow scene at Woodlands House at Ballycanvan Big, Curraghmore House, Portlaw, Lord Fitzgerald’s House at Little Island, fishing boats and ships at Cheekpoint and Dunmore East, construction of a railway bridge across the Barrow, soldiers at Halfway House, Ballycanvan Little, cockle pickers at Woodstown Strand, and more.

John Breslin created the Breslin Archive in 2019 to digitally preserve analogue photographs of Ireland from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Breslin says: “We are delighted to share this exciting collection of turn-of-the-century photographs which should be of significance to historians as well as to anyone with an interest in Irish society and culture. These digitised images give a fascinating insight into the lives of people across different social classes in Ireland, and particularly in Waterford, during the 1890s.”

The original glass and celluloid negatives are 6.5 by 8.5 inches (full plate) and 3.25 by 4.25 inches (quarter plate) in size, with the digitised full plate photographs now available to view online via the Breslin Archive website at www.breslin.org. The quarter plates will be made available online at a later date. These photographs join existing collections taken in the west of Ireland during the 1930s, with more collections from the 19th and 20th centuries currently being digitised for later addition to this online archive.

For further information, contact the Breslin Archive at archive@breslin.org.

Four cockle pickers at Woodstown Strand, County Waterford in the 1890s.

Workman on a railway bridge under construction over the Barrow opposite Cheekpoint.

People at Cheekpoint fishing village: “Doherty’s shop, Michael/Mick Doherty at gate”.

Horses and sleigh in snow in front of Woodlands House, Ballycanvan Big, County Waterford.

Man and woman with bicycles, Ellie Russel and dog, in front of Brook Lodge, County Waterford.

Portrait of a woman in a cloak.