From here to the 1890s

It’s not all leprechaun hats and ginger beards when it comes to US celebrations of St Patrick’s Day.

Sat, 18 Feb, 2012 - 00:00

A trawl through the Library of Congress in Washington DC throws up something far more cultured and refined for Irish eyes to enjoy.

The institution has published a collection of late 18th century and early 19th century photographs and prints of some places a little closer to home, which it has promoted for St Patrick’s Day.

The set of 121 images, from the library’s prints and photographs division, contains images of St Patrick’s St in Cork City, Killarney town, Torc Waterfall in Killarney, Queenstown Harbour (as it was known at the time) in Cobh, O’Connell St in Dublin, the Giant’s Causeway and more, all between 1890 and 1900.

The set was originally posted on the Library of Congress website in March 2010 and encouraged people to put up modern day pictures of the same places. Interestingly, in many cases, not that much has changed.

* http://exa.mn/3f