This full-colour kaleidoscope of over 150 Irish photographs by one of North America’s leading photographers evokes a pre-Celtic Tiger Ireland, recording a world on the cusp of radical change, a time-capsule of personalities and landscapes, professions and activities, caught in the amber of the camera’s eye.

Beginning with an Irish assignment from British Vogue in 1969, Woods’ interest deepened by marriage to two Irish husbands, and she developed an abiding love for the people and places documented in subsequent decades. This valentine to Ireland is now gathered into one resonant volume of images and visual epiphanies.

The work ranges across the Irish countryside. Departing from Dublin and Wicklow, it extends to Roscommon and the Shannon estuary, recording street scenes, travellers, the hunt, cattle marts, pub, cottage and country-house interiors. Six photo-essays focus on leading personalities; Garech Brown of Luggala, founder of Claddagh Records; the late Desmond Fitzgerald, last knight of Glin; Marina Guinness, chatelaine; J.P. Donleavy, novelist, at home in Westmeath; Hector McDonnell, artist, at home in Glenarm; and Tim Pat Coogan, historian.

Over one hundred and fifty Irish photographs are displayed in this stirring representation that spans six decades of the country’s history. Beautifully bound, printed and presented, this is the perfect gift for all interested in Ireland, its iconography, history, art, culture and traditions.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Susan Wood has worked on assignments for Vogue, New York Magazine, Newsweek and Vanity Fair over the course of her career. Mademoiselle named her as one of their ten ‘Women of the Year’ in 1961.

Celebrity portraits of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Betty Friedan, Norman Mailer, Joseph Heller, Ted Kennedy, Gloria Steinem and Susan Sontag evolved from her personal friendships with writers, authors and artists. As an international photojournalist, her work is represented by Getty Images and the Library of Congress.

‘The photographs of Browne at home in Luggala are as intimate and tender as Wood’s memories of her time spent with him.’ THE INDEPENDENT