'The Vandeleur Photographic Collection' contains over 300 images of different members of the famous Kilrush-based Vandeleur family, their relatives and friends. The photographs date from 1857 to 1871, the post famine years when West Clare was sruggling to recover from the devastation of crop failure, evictions and starvation.
Speaking ahead of the launch, Mayor Patricia McCarthy stated, "This photographic collection is an import window into a period of our history. History is what forms us and makes us what we are. The Vandeleur family and their period in this county is a typical example of what is good and bad."
"Kilrush benefited from the influence of the Vandeleur family and its development could well be an example today of good planning resulting as it has in a well planned Town, with wide streets, some striking buildings and a Market Hall forming a central focal point for the town. They also saw the potential of the Shannon Estuary and established a thriving port, which brought employment to the Town and surrounding area. The family had a long military tradition and this involved them in the recruitment of locals to fight in numerous wars including the Great War", explained the Mayor.
She added, "All the Vandeleur landlords were not as progressive however. Unfortunately Kilrush like many other areas throughout Ireland suffered under an absentee landlord, a period, which saw many evictions, take place."
Mayor McCarthy, who is a native of Kilrush, continued, "The role of the Vandeleurs in Kilrush is well known in the area. However, it was not until I read the panels accompanying the exhibition that I realised the family first settled in Sixmilebridge, establishing a mill there. While one member of the family moved to Ralahine, Newmarket on Fergus, another went to Kilrush. I find it more than a coincidence that a few centuries my family did the reverse journey leaving Kilrush to settle in Sixmilebridge. I was even more interested to learn that the Mill in Sixmilebridge, which I knew as Flynns, was actually started by the Vandeleurs."
According to Rene Franklin, Clare County Archivist, "The Vandeleur Photographic Collection is of great historical importance as it reveals much about both the public and private lives of one of County Clare's most influential families in the years after the famine."
She explained, "The collection provides a rare and fascinating glimpse into the daily lives of the Vandeleurs; their homes; leisure activities; families and friends; travels; and fashions of the day, at a time when the rest of the county was struggling to survive."
Commenting on the content of the photographic collection, which is funded by Clare County Council and The Heritage Council, Ms. Franklin said, "The photographs themselves are all black and white although a small number have been tinted with colour. Further colour is added to the album through the use of beautifully sketched borders and the use of stamps (both personal and official) on some pages. Each page of the photographic album contains annotations, and the volume is indexed and provides the name and date of many images."
The 'The Vandeleur Photographic Collection' will remain on display at Clare Museum until mid-October 2007.
Further information on 'The Vandeleur Photographic Collection' is available from Rene Franklin at Clare County Archives (065 6846414).
Notes to Editor:
- Mayor of Clare Cllr. Patricia McCarthy (087-4187132)
- Images taken from The Vandeleur Photographic Collection are available on request or may be downloaded from www.dunphypr.com
Mark Dunphy
Dunphy Public Relations
Clonboula,
Connolly,
Ennis,
County Clare
IRELAND
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