Half-century of images secured for Mayo

MAYO MOMENTS?Pictured at the launch of the Liam Lyons Collection, from left: Cllr Christy Hyland, Dara Calleary, TD; Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council, Cllr Damien Ryan; Mabel Lyons; Liam Lyons; Cllr Tereasa McGuire; An Taoiseach Enda Kenny; Chief Executive of Mayo County Council, Peter Hynes and Austin Vaughan, County Librarian.?Pic: Michael McLaughlin

Half-century of images secured for Mayo


Liam Lyons Photography Collection launched

Neill O'Neill

AN Taoiseach Enda Kenny was guest of honour in Hotel Westport on Saturday evening as Mayo County Council officially launched the digitised archive of the Liam Lyons Photography Collection.
Almost six years in the making, the event marked the safeguarding of a lifetime of work from one of the country’s most-renowned photographers.
As a photographer, Liam Lyons was present at all manner of events in Mayo during the half century in the run up to the millennium. As such, his collection gives a real insight into the social, cultural, economic and sporting life of Mayo across five decades. From weddings and funerals to festivals and fairs, Liam Lyons was there, capturing the moment. Protests, meetings, the visits of dignitaries and simple everyday occasions were all the subject of his lens.
The collection, comprised of more than 100,000 images, is now vested to the county library, where it will be preserved for all time.
During the launch, Mr Lyons gave a presentation of a selection of photographs from his archive, speaking about the pictures and when they were taken.
The many occasions brought back to life included the creation of a 25-tier wedding cake in Western Pride in Ballinrobe, an explosion in Claremorris Town Hall in 1973, a 44-pound head of cabbage, visits by President De Valera and a young Charles Haughey to Mayo, meetings of Mayo County Council in Castlebar Court House, Roy Orbison’s visit to Westport and the first performance of St Patrick’s Drama Group.

‘Collage of our county’
An Taoiseach himself also featured, particularly in some photographs taken on Inishturk in 1986.
“This is a collage of our county, and its social and infrastructural development and it is wonderful to see it documented,” said Enda Kenny. “This collection tells us the story of ourselves, who we are, where we come from, the fashions of the day. I remember so many of those moments we saw, like the football matches in the 1960s when the crossbar was pulled down in Castlebar and the game was held up while we went to the bacon factory to get some timber to replace it.
“I remember those soap boxes coming down James Street in Westport,” he said, referring to some of the photos from the presentation, “and the late Donal McElinn was one of the drivers. I can still hear the scraping of timber on the road.”
“Liam Lyons’s photography is all over the world and coming over Sheeaune this evening I saw the colours of the sky and Croagh Patrick and Clew Bay and Clare Island, it was the scene that William Makepeace Thackeray loved so much, and those same land- and seascapes are all part of the personality of Liam Lyons, a man born, bred and reared in Westport.”
An Taoiseach described the donation of the collection to the county as a wonderful gesture.
“I have grown up knowing Liam as a photographer but also as a professional. He is one of the greatest photographers of these times and his pictures will stand the test of time, a fitting testament to his lifetime’s work,” he concluded.
The audience also heard from the Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council, Cllr Damien Ryan, as well as County Librarian Austin Vaughan and Chief Executive Peter Hynes.
Mr Hynes gave the credit for the initiative to his predecessor Des Mahon, who came up with the idea, and he thanked Mr Vaughan and Carmel Kernan, who worked with Liam every day for almost six years on the initiative, for their essential input. He lauded both the work of Liam Lyons and his generosity of spirit for giving the archive to the county and for working tirelessly on it since 2008.