Documenting the abandoned school houses of Ireland

Cork-based archaeologist and photographer Enda O’Flaherty has a keen interest in the desolate beauty of abandoned spaces and the memories these places often hold.

Recently he combined his love of photography with his professional discipline, and documented the architectural features and cultural significance of the many abandoned school houses dotted across the rural Ireland.

The eerie, tumbling, and empty ruins of tiny one- and two-roomed school houses dot many parts of the Irish countryside, particularly in areas where emigration was the only option for future prosperity.