Cork harbour town seeks ‘street’ photos of people in 1950s and ’60s

By Christy Parker

Cobh, globally renowned for its seaport history, is seeking help to highlight the town’s more urban past.

The town is indelibly linked with major maritime events, being Titanic’s last port of call in 1912 and also having strong connections with the 1915 torpedo attack on the Lusitania.

John (Jack) Flanagan of Glenanaar Place, Cobh, Co Cork, taking his granddaughter Carol Boyle (Stafford), from Westview, for a stroll circa 1968, in West Beach, in the town.

Now the town’s museum is developing a street photography exhibition with organisers looking for photographs of townspeople “going about their business” during the 1950s and 60s.

The voluntary-run Cobh Museum has a vast Victorian era photo collection and has hosted exhibitions of various time periods.

The upcoming showcase will “help us compile a social history portfolio of those two decades, for which we have very little photographic material”, says museum director Yvonne Allen.

Yvonne believes there are “hundreds, if not thousands” of street photos in households around the town and even in homes of ex-pats across Ireland and abroad.

A lot of people would have had cameras in those days and I’m sure there are people with Cobh connections everywhere who were maybe captured or took photos themselves during those decades”, says the director. “We’d love to have them for consideration.

Professional photographers from the time may also have prints or negatives.

“We have received a couple of photos that were taken by a Mr Hannifan who ran a studio in the Top of the Hill, Sandymount area”, Ms Allen reveals, “but we don’t know if any of his work is out there or who might have it.”

She says the exhibition has long-term significance. “Like most Irish towns, Cobh was a very different place then and it is important that that period is never forgotten and the photos will be archived for future generations.”

The original prints can be posted or hand-delivered before being scanned by museum staff and immediately returned. Email copies are also accepted.

Submissions, before February 1 next must include names, location, approximate date and photographer’s identity. The exhibition will run April 1-October 31, 2019. Inquiries: Cobh Museum, Scots; Church High Road [phone]; cobhmuseum.com