Photographs of 1960s Ireland.
The National Library of Ireland is home to a terrific collection of snapshot depictions of 1960s Ireland. Thanks to readers writing in we know the names of many of the faces in these photographs. Dates and locations transport us to a vibrant Dublin city and the lush Irish countryside.
![Dublin, Ireland 1960s "Cheers my name is Colm Irwin and I was about 3. It was strange how I came across the image it was in the evening had just looked at sky news and for some unknown reason googled images of old Dublin and there was this image a bit surreal seeing yourself in the picture. Haven't really changed a good bit taller and I still have my own teeth ... Cheers." This photo has now been featured on TheJournal. Photographer: Elinor Wiltshire Date: 1969](https://flashbak.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Ireland1960s-46.jpg)
“My name is Colm Irwin and I was about 3. It was strange how I came across the image it was in the evening had just looked at Sky News and for some unknown reason googled images of old Dublin and there was this image. It’s a bit surreal seeing yourself in the picture. Haven’t really changed – a good bit taller and I still have my own teeth … Cheers.”
Photographer: Elinor Wiltshire. Date: 1969
![Ireland 1960s, "Delivered in 1953 to CIE were six of these double deck coaches, numbered R541 to R546. They were Leyland OPD2/1's with bodies built by CIE. These were very stylishly finished vehicles, for the express service to Dublin Airport. They had centre entrance and staircase, seating for 50 and a large walk in luggage compartment behind the back axle. After 11 years on the airport service, they were converted to half cab rear platform buses. An example R541 (ZO 6960) is preserved." Date: September 1961](https://flashbak.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Ireland1960s-53.jpg)
“Delivered in 1953 to CIE were six of these double deck coaches, numbered R541 to R546. They were Leyland OPD2/1’s with bodies built by CIE. These were very stylishly finished vehicles, for the express service to Dublin Airport. They had centre entrance and staircase, seating for 50 and a large walk in luggage compartment behind the back axle. After 11 years on the airport service, they were converted to half cab rear platform buses. An example R541 (ZO 6960) is preserved.”
Date: September 1961
![Ireland 1960s This is American model Linda Ward (later O'Reilly) posing, while two local boys give her outfit the once over… We discovered more about our elegant American model, Linda Ward, who married Brendan O’Reilly, presenter of Sports Stadium on RTÉ Television, and swapped New York for Dublin’s modelling scene. Fantastically well done to derangedlemur for locating this photo at Winetavern Street, Dublin, given that the whole right hand streetscape is completely different today! Photographer: Colman Doyle Date: Between January 1960 and 1966](https://flashbak.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Ireland1960s-66.jpg)
This is American model Linda Ward (later O’Reilly) posing, while two local boys give her outfit the once over.. Linda Ward, who married Brendan O’Reilly, presenter of Sports Stadium on RTÉ Television, swapped New York for Dublin’s modelling scene. Locations: Winetavern Street, Dublin. Potographer: Colman Doyle. Date: Between January 1960 and 1966
![Ireland 1960s , Poet Patrick Kavanagh… … pondering the Stony Grey Soil of Monaghan at his native Inniskeen. The Dictionary of Irish Biography entry for Patrick Kavanagh gives 21 or 23 October 1904 as his birth date, but most other sources say that Patrick Kavanagh was born on 21 October, which is 109 years ago today. Photographer: Elinor Wiltshire Date: 1963](https://flashbak.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Ireland1960s-65.jpg)
Poet Patrick Kavanagh eyeing the stony grey soil of Monaghan at his native Inniskeen.
The Dictionary of Irish Biography entry for Patrick Kavanagh gives 21 or 23 October 1904 as his birth date, but most other sources say that Patrick Kavanagh was born on 21 October. Photographer: Elinor Wiltshire. Date: 1963
Many images in this gallery of 1960s Ireland were taken by Elinor Wiltshire (née OBrien), a Limerick-born photographer raised on Foynes Island in the Shannon Estuary, Elinor was educated at home until a teenager, before attending Newtown School in Waterford.
In her 30s, she set up the Green Studio at St Stephen’s Green in Dublin with her husband Reggie Wiltshire, himself an accomplished professional photographer. The Green Studio was a commercial venture, and in parallel Elinor photographed Dublin street scenes and events of interest, such as Corpus Christi processions and the 1954 commemoration of Bloomsday by Dublin literati. She and Reggie were friendly with the poet Patrick Kavanagh, and he invited Elinor to photograph him in his home county of Monaghan. She used a Rolleiflex camera held at waist level looking down at the 6cm-square screen rather than directly at the subjects, resulting in more natural compositions…
After Reggie’s death in 1968 and following on from their interest in photographing Irish antiquities, Elinor spent six weeks in Ethiopia in 1971 taking photographs of early Christian churches – she met the emperor Haile Selassie while there. Those pictures were exhibited in Dublin. Elinor moved to London later in 1971. She worked for Intourist from 1974 to 1983, arranging specialist tours to the Soviet Union, helped by her knowledge of the Russian language.
Elinor lived in London for 40 years… She took up botany seriously at the age of 70… She was an active member of the London Natural History Society and took part in their detailed survey of Buckingham Palace gardens in the mid-1990s.
![Ireland 1960s, A young nun walking Holy Communion girls past no. 3, Halston Street, Dublin on the feast of Corpus Christi. Interesting juxtaposition with the older mini-skirted local girls. The baskets were usually filled with flower petals for the girls to scatter along the way... Thanks to Phyllis Stice over on our Facebook for allowing us to get to the exact date of 5 June 1969, from the unsatisfactory "sometime in 1969"! Photographer: Elinor Wiltshire Date: 5 June 1969](https://flashbak.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Ireland1960s-9.jpg)
Holy Communion girls led by a nun pass no. 3, Halston Street, Dublin on the feast of Corpus Christi. Photographer: Elinor Wiltshire. Date: 5 June 1969
![ireland 1960s Four little girls in the shadow of the Ballymun tower blocks. This charming image of four youngsters posing for a photograph in the shadow of the Ballymun towers back in 1969 would brighten any Wednesday morning! The 'flats' had just been opened, the families had moved from the crowded and sub-standard housing of the inner city to the brave new world of the new apartments and everybody was full of hope for a bright future. This was before the blight of drugs and addiction, before the "troubles" and the escalation of violence that came with them and hope sprang eternal! I wonder are they still in Ballymun and has life treated them kindly? Photographer: Elinor Wiltshire Date: 1969](https://flashbak.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Ireland1960s-5.jpg)
Four girls in the shadow of the new Ballymun tower blocks. Photographer: Elinor Wiltshire. Date: 1969
![Ireland 1960s, A half-demolished Nelson's Pillar on O'Connell Street, Dublin. From the front page of the Irish Times on Tuesday, 8 March 1966: "The top of Nelson Pillar, in O'Connell street, Dublin, was blown off by a tremendous explosion at 1.32 o'clock this morning and the Nelson statue and tons of rubble poured down into the roadway. By a miracle, nobody was injured, though there were a number of people in the area at the time." Date: Tuesday, 8 March 1966](https://flashbak.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Ireland1960s-3.jpg)
A half-demolished Nelson’s Pillar on O’Connell Street, Dublin. From the front page of the Irish Times on Tuesday, 8 March 1966: “The top of Nelson Pillar, in O’Connell street, Dublin, was blown off by a tremendous explosion at 1.32 o’clock this morning and the Nelson statue and tons of rubble poured down into the roadway. By a miracle, nobody was injured, though there were a number of people in the area at the time.”
![Ireland 1960s, Women taking part in a Corpus Christi Procession in Cahir, Co. Tipperary. Date: Thursday, 13 June 1963](https://flashbak.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Ireland1960s-33.jpg)
Women taking part in a Corpus Christi Procession in Cahir, Co. Tipperary.
Date: Thursday, 13 June 1963
![Ireland 1960s, An Evening Press newspaper seller does a brisk trade on O'Connell Street, Dublin on the day after Nelson's Pillar was blown up. Photographer: Elinor Wiltshire Date: Wednesday, 9 March 1966](https://flashbak.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Ireland1960s-31.jpg)
An Evening Press newspaper seller does a brisk trade on O’Connell Street, Dublin on the day after Nelson’s Pillar was blown up. Photographer: Elinor Wiltshire Date: Wednesday, 9 March 1966
![Ireland 1960s, news of the world, pisspoir, A very ornate urinal on Ormond Quay, Dublin featuring a poster ad for the News of the World. Photographer: Elinor Wiltshire Date: 1969](https://flashbak.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Ireland1960s-40.jpg)
Urinal on Ormond Quay, Dublin featuring a poster ad for the News of the World. Photographer: Elinor Wiltshire. Date: 1969
![Ireland 1960s, Thought I'd surprise you with a colour photograph today, as we haven't had one for ages. So here's one very contented looking man and his dog, working alongside the Gallarus Oratory on the beautiful Dingle Peninsula in Kerry. Any and all information on the Oratory would be gratefully received... It took a long time to put a name to the laughing face in another of our Tilbrook photos. I thought anyone who knew this man would be able to identify him, and hoped that our roving Kerry reporter Mossy Carey might get on the case, and he did: "This is Seamus Johnson, uncle of Seamus Kelliher, who has confirmed the identity. He maintained the oratory during his lifetime." Mossy Carey was almost beaten to the draw by Maire Oakes over on our Facebook page, who was the very first to identify Seamus. But then along came our very favourite identifier - a family member. Patrick Johnson aka Paddyj1325 says: Hi. Just heard from my brother and 2 of my sisters. They confirmed that it is indeed my Uncle Jim. I never met him but they each did when they went back over for visits. My brother Sean, who got to spend a summer with him one year at the farm, says this: "Yup, that is him. Cool picture. He always had a dog with him. He was a very kind and gentle man. Much quieter than Da. He was paid by the government to be the caretaker of that ancient church. He used to stand up at the oratory and tell people the history of the place. People used to think he worked there and they would tip him. One last unknown fact. The history books say the church is the same as it was 1,000 years ago, untouched by man. WRONG! The stones across the top were put there by Dad’s Father to keep the rain out because he kept sheep in there. Originally the top was open to let light in. Uncle Jim used to have a very old picture of the place and you could see someone added a top row. Facts you can’t find in a book." Photographer: Richard Tilbrook Collection: Tilbrook Photographic Collection Date: Around 1960](https://flashbak.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Ireland1960s-22.jpg)
Working alongside the Gallarus Oratory on the beautiful Dingle Peninsula in Kerry. Mossy Carey: “This is Seamus Johnson, uncle of Seamus Kelliher, who has confirmed the identity. He maintained the oratory during his lifetime.” Photographer: Richard Tilbrook. Collection: Tilbrook Photographic Collection. Date: Around 1960
![Ireland 1960s, March 23, 1963 This is Mrs Lawlor, pictured at Borris Train Station in Co. Carlow. She has a friendly, but compelling gaze. This photo was taken just days before this train station closed forever on 1 April 1963.](https://flashbak.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Ireland1960s-36.jpg)
March 23, 1963. ‘This is Mrs Lawlor, pictured at Borris Train Station in Co. Carlow… This photo was taken just days before this train station closed forever on 1 April 1963’.
![Ireland 1960s, Ring of Kerry Big challenge for you today! Though of course, every time I say that, someone solves the puzzle in 5 minutes. Anyway, we'd love to identify this exact spot… photogaff is first off the mark, suggesting: "That looks like a hundred metres or so on the Sneem side of the first lake heading towards Killarney at the brow of the Killarney lakes area" and franmol thinks this is right too. Meanwhile, DannyM8 and Niall McAuley think the woman leaning out the window is writer and naturalist Rosemary Elizabeth Tilbrook (aged about 32), wife of the photographer Richard Tilbrook. Niall also found what may be a photo of Rosemary Tilbrook taken in 1998 (white haired and smiling, a year before she died), and this lovely story about her: "The toads in Ashwellthorpe live in Ashwellthorpe Wood on the north side of Aswellthorpe Street, but their breeding pond lies to the south of the road – toads can live for up to forty years and always return to their same breeding pond, year after year. Some of you will remember that Rosemary Tilbrook who lived in Red Squirrels used to ferry toads/frogs/newts across the road for many years up until her death in 1999. There are now some 15 volunteers including youngsters with their parents in Ashwellthorpe who will come out in all weathers to help this migration." And the car has also been identified as a Ford Consul Mk II, registered in East Suffolk, England in 1958. Date: Circa 1960](https://flashbak.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Ireland1960s-60.jpg)
Ring of Kerry. Is that writer and naturalist Rosemary Elizabeth Tilbrook (aged about 32), wife of the photographer Richard Tilbrook? The car is Ford Consul Mk II, registered in East Suffolk, England in 1958. Date: Circa 1960
![Ireland 1960s, God bless the Corporation! Protest against evictions from tenement buildings on York Street in Dublin captured by Elinor Wiltshire and her Rolleiflex camera. Photographer: Elinor Wiltshire Date: Circa June/July 1964](https://flashbak.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Ireland1960s-57.jpg)
Protest against evictions from tenement buildings on York Street in Dublin captured by Elinor Wiltshire and her Rolleiflex camera. Date: Circa June/July 1964
![Ireland 1960s, A nun with a most remarkable (and slightly dangerous-looking) veil/head dress waiting for a bus outside the Rotunda Hospital on Parnell Street, Dublin. Cannot work out whether a clump of her own hair (unlikely) has come loose, or whether she is masking a person in front of her... With help from people over on our NLI Facebook page, it turns out this nun was a member of the Daughters of Charity (of St. Vincent de Paul). The distinctive head dress is called a cornette, and led to this order being known as the Butterfly Nuns. The Daughters of Charity abandoned the cornette on 20 September 1964, so unless this nun was ultra-traditional and carried on wearing it regardless, then this photo must have been taken before 20 September. This shot also allows us to view the Parnell Monument at the end of O'Connell Street from yet another angle. Photographer: Elinor Wiltshire Date: 1964](https://flashbak.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Ireland1960s-55.jpg)
Rotunda Hospital on Parnell Street, Dublin. A ‘Butterfly Nun’ member of the Daughters of Charity (of St. Vincent de Paul) in her cornette. The Daughters of Charity abandoned the cornette on 20 September 1964. Photographer: Elinor Wiltshire Date: 1964
![Ireland 1960s, April 10, 1965 Fred McDonagh in his Signal Cabin, Enfield, Co. Meath at 1.55 p.m. We got some lovely information on Fred from his grandson Traingraham: "A wonderfull photo of my Grandad, he was just after moving from Moyvalley station some 3 miles down the track which was just after closing down. " A true Gentleman" Lived in Moyvalley station till he died in Naas hospital on the 7 July 1977, Retired in November 71 or 72, had a daughter and two sons. His wife died on 2 Jan 1983."](https://flashbak.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Ireland1960s-59.jpg)
April 10, 1965. Fred McDonagh in his Signal Cabin, Enfield, Co. Meath at 1.55 p.m. His grandson Traingraham:
“A wonderful photo of my Grandad, he was just after moving from Moyvalley station some 3 miles down the track which was just after closing down. ” A true Gentleman” Lived in Moyvalley station till he died in Naas hospital on the 7 July 1977, Retired in November 71 or 72, had a daughter and two sons. His wife died on 2 Jan 1983.”
![Ireland 1960s, Taxi driver waiting for a fare (and chatting to another driver leaning on his car?) at the rank in Dublin's O'Connell Street beside the Sacred Heart Shrine. Photographer: Elinor Wiltshire Date: Summer 1964](https://flashbak.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Ireland1960s-50.jpg)
Taxi driver at the rank on Dublin’s O’Connell Street beside the Sacred Heart Shrine. Photographer: Elinor Wiltshire. Date: Summer 1964
![Ireland 1960s, Two women take a break from church cleaning at St. Audoen's Church, High Street, Dublin. Photographer: Elinor Wiltshire Date: 1969](https://flashbak.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Ireland1960s-58.jpg)
Two women take a break from church cleaning at St. Audoen’s Church, High Street, Dublin. Photographer: Elinor Wiltshire. Date: 1969
![Ireland 1960s, Good shot of the Parnell Monument at the junction of Upper O'Connell Street, Parnell Street and Cavendish Row, Dublin. The ornate bollards are no longer to be seen. Does anyone know what they were? And note the lovely old creamy-coloured telephone box. The text on the Monument is from a passionate speech in support of Home Rule for Ireland that Charles Stewart Parnell gave in Cork on 21 January 1885: "... No man has the right to fix the boundary of a nation. No man has the right to say to his country, "Thus far shalt thou go and no further", and we have never attempted to fix the "ne plus ultra" to the progress of Ireland’s nationhood, and we never shall." Date: Circa 1969](https://flashbak.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Ireland1960s-45.jpg)
Parnell Monument at the junction of Upper O’Connell Street, Parnell Street and Cavendish Row, Dublin. The text on the Monument is from a passionate speech in support of Home Rule for Ireland that Charles Stewart Parnell gave in Cork on 21 January 1885: “… No man has the right to fix the boundary of a nation. No man has the right to say to his country, “Thus far shalt thou go and no further”, and we have never attempted to fix the “ne plus ultra” to the progress of Ireland’s nationhood, and we never shall.” Date: Circa 1969
![Ireland 1960s, This is James P. O'Dea (left) and Fred McDonagh raising a glass at a pub in Moyvalley, Co. Kildare. By the looks of the CIÉ logo on Fred's jacket, he was one of the many railway workers all over Ireland, who would have known James very well. Originally, we just knew the railwayman as Fred, but his grandson Traingraham identified him as Fred McDonagh, who lived in the station in Moyvalley till he died on 7 July 1977. A couple of commenters have suggested that this was Furey's Pub in Moyvalley. James O'Dea was the photographer responsible for many of the train and railway photos you'll see here on our photostream. He was a founding member of the Irish Railway Records Society in 1946. James was also nephew of the famous Dublin comedian and entertainer, Jimmy O'Dea. Date: Wednesday, 23 August 1961](https://flashbak.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Ireland1960s-54.jpg)
This is James P. O’Dea (left) and Fred McDonagh raising a glass at a pub in Moyvalley, Co. Kildare. Date: Wednesday, 23 August 1961
![Ireland 1960s, These two young entrepreneurs had set out their "stall" in front of St. Catherine's Church on Thomas Street in Dublin. Said this morning that it would make an old library very happy if these girls could be identified, and we've done it! Thanks to the sister of one of them, we now know these are Elizabeth or Lily Collins on the left, and her friend Angela Arnold on the right... Photographer: Elinor Wiltshire Date: Summer 1969](https://flashbak.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Ireland1960s-51.jpg)
St. Catherine’s Church on Thomas Street in Dublin. Elizabeth or Lily Collins on the left, and her friend Angela Arnold on the right. Photographer: Elinor Wiltshire. Date: Summer 1969
![Ireland 1960s, Fruit seller with a very cheeky grin. We originally thought this photo was taken outside Heuston Station (previously Kingsbridge), Dublin, but see comments below showing it was taken alongside the hoarding around the site of the blown up Nelson's Pillar on O'Connell Street. It was definitely taken on the day of a G.A.A.match - perhaps the All-Ireland Final, given the dating evidence from the posters in the background. Anyone know this lady's name? Photographer: Elinor Wiltshire Date: September 1969](https://flashbak.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Ireland1960s-44.jpg)
Heuston Station (previously Kingsbridge), Dublin. Photographer: Elinor Wiltshire. Date: September 1969
1960s Ireland via: National Library of Ireland
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